


A Step Out Of Time

by Mistymay6886



Series: Time And Place (Verse 8) [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Scientists, F/F, Humor, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-02-16 18:48:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18697201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistymay6886/pseuds/Mistymay6886
Summary: Alec Lightwood is a career soldier. He’s worked for the NSA, CIA, FBI and most every other three letter agency someone can name; by this point in his life he doesn’t think much of anything can faze him…At least that’s what he thinks until his first day of his new job heading up security for a supposed Tech company called “Oasis’…Now he is somehow tasked with chasing down dinosaurs and other terrifying creatures from the past, trying to keep random people out of time from ending up in the press, and corralling Oasis’s ridiculously attractive, completely insane head scientist, Magnus Bane…Yeah…he was SO not prepared for this one…





	1. Ready for Anyth-  Umm…I-is That A Dinosaur?

**Author's Note:**

> ***Blanket Note For All Verses 3-9***
> 
> _ Kay, so here’s the thing, originally I was planning on starting these kinda in shifts, but I’m impatient and I really want to get this stuff going… _
> 
> _ So over the next three weeks I am going to be starting universes _
> 
> _ 3-9 _
> 
> _** **(10 won’t start till the others are well underway for a very specific reason)** ** _
> 
>  
> 
> _ So some of them may take a bit to update but I will have the 1st half of chapter 1 up for all of them by May 10th (I’m setting me a deadline damnit) _
> 
>  
> 
> _ The SEM Verse is still my main focus right now and will still be updated at least once a week…the others updates will be a bit more random depending on which one my mind is running with at that moment _
> 
>  
> 
> _ I know it seems like a lot and not gonna lie that’s cause it IS but my mind has been running with these for over a year now, I think it’ll work out just fine… _
> 
>  
> 
>  _All the universes I will most likely just update half a chapter at a time_ _._   _The 1st stories of them will mainly just be introducing our characters and getting a feel for the world so- with the exception of the 40’s with a twist the 1st stories will only be 8 chapters,_
> 
>  
> 
> _ Kay onto our regularly scheduled program _
> 
>  
> 
> Here we go again…
> 
>  
> 
> So this one is loosely based on the premise of the show primeval but just like the most vague parts of it-
> 
>  
> 
> Since I already have a series set in the past I decided I needed a future fic too, just for balance (and cause it just seemed like it’d work with the whole premise). I decided to set it in the year 2050, So not quite ‘Jetsons’ but a way to play with a bit of fun Sci-fi tech stuff…
> 
>  
> 
> Holes are opening in time; things and people are wandering through, secretive bases, crazy scientist trying to figure out whats going on and keep random unintentional time travelers from ending up on the news and humans from becoming a part of the prehistoric food chain…
> 
>  
> 
> _Lots of random ideas, lots of twists and craziness, and we have Magnus as half a step away from a mad scientist; how can that NOT be fun?_
> 
> _Alright…let’s see where this craziness goes…_

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Man, how long were they gonna keep him waiting?_

 

His meeting with his new boss was supposed to be half an hour ago. He’d showed up ten minutes early just to be sure, only for a very intimidating blonde woman in a clean cut black suit to meet him at the door with nothing more than a curt nod and a sharp gesture to follow her, leading him to this waiting room where he’s been setting for the last forty minutes.

 

_Maybe this is some kind of a test? A way to see that he’s level headed enough to be patient when he needs to?_

_Or maybe they’re testing his resolve, seeing how long he’ll wait?_

_Or it could be just the opposite, trying to find out how much it takes for him to get fed up and go looking for answers?_

_Maybe they’re seeing if he’ll snoop when he’s left alone long enough?_

Alec sighed shaking his head

 

_Or maybe Alec’s been working for secretive, clandestine organizations far too long and this Mr. Santiago is just running late._

_See, this is why he wants to move to the private sector. After a while the whole cloak and dagger thing starts to play games with your mind-_

_Makes you see plots and conspiracies everywhere._

Alec startles faintly at the click of a lock, glancing towards the door at the back of the waiting room. A young, attractive woman in a deep burgundy suit with ebony eyes and hair pulled back in a tight, high ponytail flashes a bright smile, striding across the room. Alec quickly stands to meet her. She reaches out, taking his hand in a surprisingly firm, confident handshake.

 

“Good Afternoon Mr. Lightwood, I’m Divya Nadim, Mr. Santiago’s assistant and head of PR here at Oasis. Apologies for the wait, we had a few hiccups to deal with, rather unavoidable. We’re ready now though, right this way.” She finished, turning on heel heading back to the red door, pressing a panel on the doorframe.

 

Two flat black spots slide open silently. On one she pressed her thumb, simultaneously leaning in, a small blue green light emanating from the second spot, flickering over her right eye. The sound of a heavy duty lock clicking followed by a low buzzing tone. She reached forward, grabbing the handle, pulling the door open, holding it patiently for Alec.

 

He blinked in surprise, glancing from her over to the once again smooth, seamless side panel of the door, quirking his eyebrow,

 

Divya shrugged, giving a slightly knowing smirk,

 

“Can never be too careful…don’t want anything unwanted getting in…

 

Or out.”

 

Alec blinked, giving a slightly unsure nod, falling into step behind her, traveling down a long, unusual hallway. The floor was covered in a deep green carpet that muffled the footsteps; even the click of Divya’s heels was nearly unnaturally silent. The walls were even stranger than the floor. They were a soft, creamy eggshell color and almost seemed semi opaque, giving glimpses of shadows and shapes on the other side moving, though they were very vague, just the slightest impression of movement, and no sound whatsoever.

 

_Huh…_

 He shook his head as they approached another door, Divya once more doing the whole two point identification thing, hearing the door unlock, it almost sounded like a type of airlock.

 

Alec shook his head again.

 

_Damn…this place had more security than his last job…and that was with the CIA…_

Not exactly what he was expecting from a security job for a random tech company…even one with a few military contracts…

 

But…well…it’d kinda make sense. The tech world was pretty cutthroat…and they DID have actual military contracts, it would make sense to safeguard that. Besides, he knew corporate espionage and that kind of thing was a very real concern.

       

He shrugged faintly,

 

 _Eh, it’d be fine…It was_ **_corporate_ ** _espionage…he’d dealt with the real thing; this was nothing he couldn’t handle…_

_Actually if he’s supposed to be heading up security this’ll probably make his job far easier._

He nodded faintly to himself, picking up the pace a bit, noticing Divya had stopped, waiting in front of an ornate wooden door at the far end of the hall, quirking her eyebrow at him expectantly.

 

He gave a slightly sheepish shrug,

 

“Sorry, this place really isn’t what I was expecting…”

 

Divya gave a loud, surprised laugh, dark eyes sparking bright,

 

“Oh, you have  _no_  idea…but you will.” she smirked mysteriously, tilting her head towards the door,

 

“Come on, we’ll get the real scary stuff out of the way first; your new boss.” she reached back, pushing the door open, holding it for him with a nearly challenging smirk.

 

Alec blinked faintly in confusion, hesitantly wandering through, stopping just inside the door, glancing around somewhat nervously.

 

The office was clean and elegant, everything gleaming black and chrome, accented with deep blood red. It kind of put him on edge to be honest; there was something just unsettling about it. The walls were the same odd eggshell like opaque as the hallway; carpet a deep, rich blood red. The room seemed oddly circular, he couldn’t see any corners, the walls seemingly a smooth continuous curve- it seemed like something more fitting for a scifi spaceship type movie set as opposed to the office of the head of a Tech company.

 

Along one side of the office there was an elegant black leather lounge that curved faintly, following the wall- and probably cost more than Alec’s car…maybe a few times over…

 

_Almost certainly a few times over…_

 

There were a few other accents here and there but the center focus of the room was clearly a clean, gleaming desk. In front of it were two black leather chairs, with a high backed red leather chair on the far side turned away from them.

 

Divya strode right across the room stopping next to one of the black chairs, indicating for Alec to join her,

 

Alec blinked faintly, still hovering by the door,

 

_Okay…why did he feel like he just entered the lair of a supervillian?_

“Hello Captain Lightwood, please come in.” a smooth, rich, ever so slightly accented voice called, the red chair slowly turning to face them.

 

_Alright…if he’s stroking a white cat, wearing an eye patch, or swirling a glass of brandy, Alec’s out._

 

He knows he’s already signed the papers and the confidentiality agreement ( _agreement_ ** _s_** _plural…a lot of them)_ but surely there’s some loophole about working for a wannabe supervillian.

 

Right?

 

_Kay; cat, eye patch, brandy, he’s gone that’s a-_

The chair completes its rotation,

 

_Oh…okay…apparently he forgot to add to his list casually inspecting a freaking dagger_

_**What the hell?!** _

__

“Umm…”

 

The man gives a slight chuckle, quirking his eyebrow, smirking, twirling the gleaming silver blade dramatically

 

“At ease solider boy…it is a letter opener.”

 

Alec swallowed,

 

“I knew that…”

 

Divya snickered, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“Sure you did…” She glanced over at the man, giving a slight wink,

 

“Always have to make a lasting impression, don’t you?”

 

The man gave a faint shrug and a casual wave, setting the ‘letter opener’ aside,

 

“Can’t really seem to help it.” the man stood up,

 

_Huh…not what Alec was expecting with the whole supervillianny entrance thing._

The guy seemed pretty young, maybe still in his late twenties, Latino, very deep brown, perfectly styled hair, and sharp, curious, somewhat unsettling dark eyes. He was dressed immaculately in a clean, perfectly tailored, jet black suit that also probably costs more than Alec’s car-

 

_Okay, if this works out one of the first things he needs to think about is getting a new car…_

 

The man strode confidently across the office, stopping just in front of Alec. Distantly it registered that the guy was nearly half a foot shorter than him…which should have put Alec more at ease, but didn’t really do much to quiet the faint alarms the guy set off in his head…

 

Alec’s worked a lot of jobs with a lot of  _ **very**_  dangerous people. He can spot a threat when he sees one…and everything Alec felt from this guy tells him this was  _not_  someone you wanted to screw with. 

 

The man reached forward, taking Alec’s hand in an almost uncomfortably strong grip, shaking firmly, flashing a sharp smile that put Alec even more on edge.

  
“Hello Captain Lightwood, Raphael Santiago.”

 

Alec gave a polite smile, nodding, vaguely wondering what he was getting into here, reassuring himself that it was just a security job at a tech company…nothing he couldn’t handle…

 

No matter how weirdly intimidating his new boss was…

Or how much it felt like he was going into business with a supervillian…

 

Nevertheless the benefits package really  **was**  amazing…

_Eh, so long as he didn’t hear anything about world domination or death rays it should be fine._

“Mr. Santiago, great to finally meet you. Thank you again for this opportunity, this job really seems too good to be true. Though I have to admit it seemed a bit vague.”

 

He chuckled with a slight shrug,

 

“First off, as you are now an employee Raphael is quite alright- we don’t generally stand on formality here. It’s rather fast paced and more often than not there simply isn’t the time for such posturing and nonsense.

 

Next, well, truth be told the ambiguity was completely intentional. Some of our work here is quite secretive and requires a great deal of confidentiality- hence the rather extensive agreements you had to sign before entering the building.” He paused, flashing a slight, somewhat mysterious, smile,

 

“This place truly is one of a kind; there is no other like it in the world, the things we deal with here are completely beyond the scope of even the wildest of imaginations.  I am quite protective of it as well as our work; we really cannot have just anyone stumbling about, or have just any run of the mill applicant traipsing around, bumbling into something life threatening or not meant for their eyes, or worse yet, blabbering on about it to the public.

 

That really would be unacceptable, right Captain?” he quirked his eyebrow expectantly

 

Alec blinked, nodding slowly,

 

_Yeah…he’s SO working for a supervillian…_

 

“Umm…y-yeah, totally unacceptable...So…when you say ‘life threatening’ and ‘not for their eyes’ you mean the military contract things…right? Like government sanctioned projects…right?”

 

Raphael gave a deceptively casual shrug,

 

“Yes…among other things.”

 

_Ooh…crap…he really should have read the fine print more…_

 

Alec shifted faintly,

 

“Other things like?”

 

Raphael waved dismissively,

 

“Oh this and that, you’ll find out soon enough. We do have quite a few government contracts but that’s hardly our main focus, really those are just an afterthought…though I am sure they would be quite interested in our findings, they do have a tendency of bulldozing in, taking over and mucking everything up, much better to just deal with it ourselves. Involving the government in it would rather be like trying to perform complicated surgery with a chainsaw as opposed to a scalpel.”

 

_Oookay…can he just like back out of here slowly?_

_Ooh…probably not with the whole two point security-airlock type thing with the doors…_

_Crap…_

 

Alec gestured back towards the door, glancing over at Divya hopefully,

 

 “Umm…okay…so…this all sounds really interesting but you should know I’ve worked for the government before, and am kinda attached to this country so maybe I shou-”

 

He’s cut off by a faint chuckle, echoed by Divya’s slightly musical laughter, Alec glances over in confusion, she just rolls her eyes playfully at Raphael,

 

“ _Dios_ , so high strung- again, at ease soldier boy- you will not be asked to betray your Country, loyalties, principals, morals or any other vague ideals you hold oh so dear. I am not planning on overthrowing the government or whatever Machiavellian scheme you think I have in mind. I simply meant some of our work is quite delicate and complicated and would be best for everyone if it were not weaponized. Surely you can understand that, yes?”

 

Alec gave a faint nod, breathing slightly easier, infinitesimally relaxing,

 

“Good to know…”

 

Divya grins, leaning against Raphael’s desk,

 

“Well boss man, you do have a certain air about you.”

 

Raphael flashes a faintly playful grin and wink her way,

 

“Eh, no harm playing to your strengths.”

 

She chuckled once more, before glancing over at Alec, quirking her eyebrow,

 

“He scare you away yet? Or are you gonna stop hovering by the door and have a seat so we can get the actual interview underway?”

 

Alec bristled a bit at that, standing up straighter, moving over to one of the black chairs, Raphael slipping ahead of him, moving to the other side of the desk, giving a slightly false smile,

 

“Again, hello Captain Lightwood, thank you for coming in today. I am sure you will find this job quite enthralling…and the benefits truly are beyond reproach, far above anything else in the private sector.”

 

Alec fought down the urge to roll his eyes,

 

_Kay his new boss may not be a ‘supervillian’ but he was definitely a super jackass._

 

Alec put on an equally fake, overly cheerful smile,

 

“Of course, thank you for having me…so shall we get down to business? Namely what will be entailed in being the head of security for ‘Oasis’?”

 

A flicker of surprise flitted across Raphael’s expression, along with a hint of amusement; He gave a faint nod,

 

“Much better- really wouldn’t do to have a head of security who just hovered nervously by the door.”

 

“Hey! I wa-”

 

Raphael rolled his eyes,

 

“Let’s not turn this into a whole dramatic ‘thing’…Mag’s does that enough for all concerned.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow

 

“Mag’s?”

 

Raphael nodded,

 

“Magnus Bane, our head scientist. The man is absolutely brilliant, light-years ahead of most anyone else so far as any of our work here goes. Unfortunately he is also totally insane, inherently dramatic, and a living, breathing trouble magnet cleverly disguised as a person.”

 

Alec chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Sounds like a lot of work…Can’t imagine why you’d keep someone like that around. You don’t really strike me as the patient, sentimental type.”

 

Raphael shrugged, giving a faint bark of a laugh,

 

“I can be if the mood strikes me, though in general you are quite right. However Magnus is brilliant, and really we would not be able to do half of what we do here without him…

 

Also he has been my best friend since I was seven and is the closest thing I have to family.” Raphael tilted his head, dark eyes leveling on Alec,

 

“Which is where you come in, Captain.”

 

Alec swallowed faintly at the rather unsettling look; he shook his head slightly in confusion,

 

“I don’t really understand, I was hired as the head of security for the entire company, right? How does this crazy scientist ‘Magnus’ factor into that? I mean, unless he’s a security risk o-” 

 

Raphael sighed, shaking his head, slumping faintly against the desk,

 

“Magnus is no threat to security…just to himself, and my sanity.”

 

“Umm…what?”

 

He sighed again,

 

“Look Captain, I’m going to be honest. I am hiring you as head of security but your main job-above all else- is to keep our head scientist, my best friend and eternal pain in the ass, alive. And believe me, that is no small task, it will take up much of your time and probably 90% of your focus. But don’t worry, Bindy Yakira and Valerie Chase, your seconds in command, can handle anything thrown at them and then some, and every last member of the security team was handpicked and vetted by me, there is no better team.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“So, wait…Let me just make sure we’re on the same page. You’re hiring me, giving me nearly too good to be true benefits and a frankly exorbitant salary, all just to babysit some scientist? Just  _ **one**_  scientist?

 

That’s it?

 

 _ **That**_  is why you’re hiring me?”

 

Raphael shrugged, giving an almost devious smirk,

 

“Actually I am hiring you because you’re hot.”

 

Alec startled,

 

“Umm…l-look I’m flattered and all that, and you’re actually really attractive- in a slightly evil, bond villain type way- but umm…I’m not rea-”

 

Raphael chuckled, rolling his eyes, flashing a mischievous smile,

 

“Take a breath- I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever- like, less than none in fact.”

 

Alec relaxed a bit, nodding faintly,

 

“Ah, you’re straight.”

 

Raphael gave a loud laugh,

 

“Oh, most definitely not…”

 

Alec blinked,

 

“Oookay…uh…w-well…good?”

 

Raphael tilted his head,

 

“Agreed. What I meant -before your little unneeded panic- is that Magnus will find you attractive…which means he might actually be less likely to purposefully ditch you as he has done to the ten other security officers I’ve hired to protect him.”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh,

 

“How could a scientist ditch that many security officers? And why would he?”

 

Raphael sighed,

 

“The ‘how’ is because Magnus is as devious and scheming as he is brilliant, and he has an annoying tendency of using all of that together. In any given situation he has no less than a dozen different ideas and workarounds that range from scarily brilliant to bat crap crazy and everything in between.

 

The ‘why’ is because despite  _ **insurmountable**_  evidence to the contrary he seems entirely convinced- nearly to the point of delusionality- he is totally capable of taking care of himself and completely set on proving it at every opportunity.” Raphael gave a faintly world weary sigh, shaking his head, quirking his eyebrow at Alec

 

“I am not going to lie; he is a LOT of work.”

 

Alec shook his head faintly, setting forward slightly in the chair, the first part of Raphael’s initial comment catching his focus,

 

“So…l-let me get this straight. You expect me to, what? Act like bait to keep your crazy scientist friend distracted and from running off doing something idiotic and insane just to prove he can?”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“No…If Magnus sets his mind to something he’s doing it. Magnus doing insane things is rather like the tides or the seasons, a certainty of nature. Seasons change, tides ebb and flow, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and Magnus Bane will do something mind numbingly insane and heart attack inducing at least once a week.

 

That’s just how it is; I do not expect you to be able to stop it, I am realistic. I am just hoping he will find you attractive and appealing enough he may at least try to bring you along during the insanity so he has someone watching his back.”

 

_Well…this was just insulting…_

_He almost felt cheap…_

_That’s an odd feeling…_

He shook his head, beginning to stand,

 

“You know what? The benefits are great and all but honestly I think this job is a bit beneath my skill set. Also, hiring someone based solely on their looks is discriminatory and degrading. And expecting me to parade around some crazy mad scientist j-”

 

Raphael sighed, rolling his eyes, glancing over, hitting a few buttons on the desk console, a hologram shimmering into focus, nodding towards the shimmering image,

 

“This is Magnus…”

 

Alec blinked, swallowing faintly…

 

_**Wow…** _

__

Alec sat back down, folding his hands politely,

 

“S-so umm…you were saying about the benefits package?”

 

Raphael chuckled,

 

“Well, we do have a bit more to go over Captain…”

__

# Two Hours Later…

 

**_God…Finally!_ **

__

Divya had got some kind of text about an hour ago, saying it was some kind of PR emergency and she had to head out, but he was beginning to think she was just getting bored watching him sign his life away…

 

It was totally understandable,

 

This place had more security measures and secrecy than any of his other jobs put together…even the clandestine ones he couldn’t put on a resume…

 

Not that that matters with this ‘Raphael’,

 

_And he still didn’t know what the hell they actually did here!_

 

He’d signed even more confidentiality agreements, been quizzed by Raphael- who at this point Alec is convinced must have at least as much experience with government organizations and clandestine work as him, though probably far more-

 

Also he may actually know more about Alec then  _ **Alec**_  does…

 

_Which is just disturbing as hell…_

_Seriously, he knows everything from where his last deployment was all the way to his very first crush (Skyler Weston- the 15 th Doctor Who)_

_It really is very disturbing…_

_But the benefits seem very promising, the pay is amazing, and Magnus is…umm…_

_A-anyways…he thinks it’ll be good_

 

Alec sighed signing the very last space on the seemingly never ending paperwork, setting the pen aside, subtly flexing his hand, trying to get his fingers to stop cramping, glancing up at Raphael,

 

He nodded faintly, giving Alec an encouraging smile, moving around the desk next to Alec, reaching out once more to shake his hand,

 

“Glad to have you on board Alec…I am sure you will fit in just fine here.”

 

Alec smiled, shrugging,

 

“Well thank you…so now that it’s all official and everything are you gonna tell me what exactly it is your main focus here is? Gotta say I’m rather curious after all the buildup.”

 

Raphael chuckled, tilting his head,

 

“Well, I must admit, it is rather unorthodox, but once you see you will understand all the secrecy…

 

Though you may want to take a moment to prepare yourself- it is rather surprising at first.”

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“Look I’m sure this place is very impressive and everything, but like I said, I’m a career soldier, I’ve seen pretty much everything there is to see. It takes a lot to really throw me, I think I’m good.”

 

Raphael quirked his eyebrow in amusement,

 

“Good to know...”

 

Raphael smirks, turning to stand directly beside Alec, reaching over placing his hand on the desk, it seems to almost ripple, a complicated mess of symbols and unusual letters appearing. Without even looking Raphael hits a few, putting in some kind of code.

 

Alec quirks his eyebrow, glancing over at him, Raphael flashes a smirk, nodding towards the back wall of the office. As if on cue the walls shimmer, turning from opaque to crystal clear.

 

Alec freezes, blinking, eyes wide,

 

Raphael reaches up, resting his hand on Alec’s shoulder, patting firmly, gesturing towards the area beneath the office that resembled a fairly decent sized enclosed park, complete with a little artificial water area, plants, trees and grass…

 

_Along with a few other things…_

 “Captain Lightwood, welcome to Oasis…”  

 

Alec blinked again, pointing uncomprehendingly.

 

“T-that’s a dinosaur…”

 

Raphael nodded, smirking,

 

“Yes, technically she’s a Diplodocus.”

 

“That is a dinosaur.”

 

“Yes, we have established that…a Diplodocus, a type of large, herbivorous sauropod of the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago.”

 

“That. Is. A.  _Dinosaur_.”

 

Raphael huffed, rolling his eyes, 

 

“Once again; we’ve already established that…Kevin has nicknamed her Odette, after the swan princess, because of the long, graceful neck.”

 

Alec blinked, quirking his eyebrow, looking over at the other man in confusion,

 

“You have a dinosaur named after a Disney princess?”

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_Oh my gosh this one is gonna be SO fun!!!_ **
> 
> **_Also I know I said in the notes that the other stories would only be 8 chapters but this one we’re doing the full 12- it just calls for it…_ **
> 
> **_I’m gonna go with just this one part for this chapter- think this is a good place to end chapter 1…_ **
> 
> ****
> 
> So in this Divya is gonna be a bit older, closer to Simon and the others rather than the teens
> 
>  
> 
> In most of the other verses she’s around Max’s age but in a few she’s gonna be closer to Simon and them- it just depends where I want to fit her in.)
> 
>  
> 
> I figured if Alec’s been in the military and such for so long he’d have some kind of military rank- On Primeval they had Captain Becker, so I just went with that…seemed a good fit.
> 
>  
> 
> _So what do you guys think so far?_


	2. Time Traveling Dinosaurs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ## 💖💖Chapter Complete!!💖💖
> 
> The usual proofing at work hope it’s okay…
> 
> Alec learns what Oasis actually does…
> 
> Also he meets Magnus 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay…Alec  is a soldier, has been for the better part of his life. He’s seen a lot, been in crazy, you-wouldn’t-believe-it-if-I-told-you situations more times than he can even count. He really thought he’d seen it all…that he was genuinely prepared for pretty much any kind of twist, eventuality or curveball a simple security job at a tech firm could ever throw at him…

 

Gotta admit…

‘Odette the Dinosaur’ was a hell of a curve ball.

“So are you wishing you had taken the ‘minute to prepare’ option after all Captain?”

 

_Alright, he takes it back- Raphael is most definitely a supervillian._

_That level of deadpan sarcasm had no place where freaking **dinosaurs** were concerned._

 He turned, giving a slightly flippant gesture,

 

“Oh excuse me I’m sorry. Guess I was a bit confused by the whole ‘tech company’ thing. I spent most of last night going over the recent product launches, patents and tech breakthroughs from Oasis over the last two years in order to prepare for my new job…

 

Apparently I should have just binge watched the freaking Jurassic Park franchise!”

 

 Raphael gave a surprised laugh, nodding approvingly,

 

“Maravilloso, you do have a sense of humor; that will serve you quite well here. Plus it’s the only way you’ll be able to really handle Magnus. Like I said, I believe you will fit in quite well. Shall we begin the tour?”

 

Alec sputtered faintly, shaking his head,

 

 _“Are you kidding me?!_ I don’t think I was even joking! There is an actual, _live_ dinosaur down there- and you people gave it a nice little park and a cute princess name! Have you even seen any of those movies?

 

Know what they all have in common? The dinosaurs get loose, wreak havoc and the humans are pretty much screwed.” He shook his head again, folding his arms indigently,

 

“Look, the pay and benefits here are awesome, and your friend is really hot-okay so he’s actually like stupidly gorgeous- but when you said ‘crazy scientist’ I kinda figured you meant in a charmingly eccentric kinda way, not full blown mad scientist cloning dinosaurs, a-”

 

““¿Oh por Dios, quien hubiera imaginado que un soldado sería tan reina del drama.? Once again _at ease_ soldier boy; no one’s ‘cloning’ anything. We did not make the dinosaurs, or any of the other beings for that matter. They wandered through holes appearing in time.

 

We do not know what is causing the holes- anomalies as the scientists have taken to calling them- merely manage the situation and keep things under wraps until they can be returned to their own timeline-or when necessary acclimated to life in the modern world.”

 

Alec blinked, trying to go over all of that but coming up with little more than a mental error message of ‘does not compute, system error, reboot’…which was kinda the only even remotely sane response to…well… ** _that_**.

 

They weren’t cloning the Dinosaurs…dinosaurs had apparently just randomly mastered time travel. Cause that’s totally a thing that happens outside of cartoons and scifi conventions…

 

Alec shook his head faintly, giving a slightly hopeless shrug, latching onto the one part of the explanation that he DID understand,

 

“Okay well, I don’t really know what to say to all of that- except don’t call me a ‘drama queen’. There’s no such thing as being ‘over dramatic’ when _time traveling dinosaurs_ is an actual thing.”

 

Raphael’s eyes flickered in surprise before giving a quick nod, and a slightly dismissive wave,

 

“Right, I forgot; you got the Rosetta chip implanted before the thing in Bosnia three years ago. Quite handy yes? That’s actually one of ours. It will be so much easier when the government contract is up in five years and we can market them to the public, as opposed to just clandestine, non-existent government espionage agencies.

 

On the plus side, that does save you a bit of hassle; all Oasis employees are required to get them.”

 

Again Alec couldn’t do much more than blink uncomprehendingly…

 

_Alright… just to recap his new company **required** its employees to get an experimental chip implanted in their brains…_

They WERE supposed to just be universal translators but meeting the person behind it how did he know they didn’t have a hidden self-destruct button or memory wipe function or something?

 

_Up till like half an hour ago he’d of said that sounded crazy and paranoid but…well…_

_Time traveling dinosaurs…_

The whole ‘mandatory chipping’ adds another pretty big, glaring red mark in the my-new-boss-is-a-supervillian category.

 

Raphael may actually be more bizarre than the distractingly hot mad scientist or the freaking time traveling dinosaurs…

 

Again Raphael sighed, rolling his eyes, giving a flippant wave,

 

“Now, now, stop spinning…it is nothing like what you are thinking. They really are just translators; they simply are a necessity with our work, one less hurtle to deal with when we have travelers. They translate all human languages; even archaic pronunciations and all but forgotten dialects. In truth we developed it specifically for use here…which would have been perfectly fine, except a rather incompetent lab tech was in a time crunch and unable to produce the tech they promised to a government contractor and let slip about the implant.

 

It’s fine now; that person has since been fired and their credentials redacted so they’re no longer an issue.”

 

_Oh yeah that was comforting…what else were they hiding here from the military? Seriously what kind of w-…_

_Wait…_

_Back up a sec…_

“Wait…I think I must have missed something in there. What do you mean ‘travelers’?”

 

Raphael flashed a quick smirk, shrugging,

 

“As I said; dinosaurs are not the only beings that have come through. Prehistoric and Megalithic creatures are more tricky to keep from the public but in the long run they are far easier to deal with. No one keeps track of when a stegosaurus, mastodon, or saber tooth cat disappears, or if it reappears a decade or two later than when it left. On the other hand a person, group, family or even an entire plane or ship disappear…well…that is another matter entirely.

 

The creatures are easy enough to deal with- especially thanks to Divya’s PR management skills. Get them away from the public, concoct a convincing cover story then if feasible return them to as close to their proper time as possible.

 

On the other hand the people who disappear- particularly those from times with adequate record keeping and/or news coverage-are a bit more difficult to deal with.

 

If possible we try to find a way for them to get back to their original time. However that is simply not always possible. In that case they are acclimated as best they can be to the current time, given a new identity and encouraged to pick up their lives as best they can.”

 

Again with the blinking, but really what other answer is there to ‘so occasionally random people transport through time and when they can’t go back/ are reported missing in their actual time they are simply caught up on current events, given false backgrounds and sent back out into the modern world’

 

Y-yeah…he’s pretty sure the only logical responses to that are excessive blinking or wondering if he’d somehow been dosed with something and was hallucinating all of this...Which he may actually prefer to a real world in which dinosaurs, saber tooth cats and random people routinely stumbled through holes in time into modern day 2050’s Santa Barbra…

 

 All of which was being ‘managed’ and ‘secured’ by a seemingly random tech company ran by an almost certain supervillian in the making.

 

A Seemingly random tech company that HE was now head of security for…

 

Which probably ALSO meant in between trying to corral a hot mad scientist he was going to be dealing with dinosaurs, random terrifying creatures and accidental time travelers…

 

_Oooh…Crap…_

_Damn that fine print!_

Alec groaned, rubbing his face agitatedly, pushing his hair back, trying in vain to wrap his head around this total insanity…

 

**_Damnit…_ **

_Why can’t it just be a simple mad scientist cloning dinosaurs!?_

He groaned louder, rolling not only his eyes, but his entire head, looking over exasperatedly at his new disturbingly menacing boss/time travel powered supervillian,

 

“Please tell me this is all an elaborate plan to make the dino cloning thing seem less insane- cause if it is mission _totally_ accomplished. I no longer have any issue with it whatsoever.”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head, patting Alec’s shoulder reassuringly _(Which helped in absolutely no way whatsoever)_

“Don’t worry Captain, it is rather overwhelming at first and takes a fair bit of getting use to, but after a while you adapt, most everyone does.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“And those who don’t ‘adapt’?”

 

He shrugged,

 

“Eh, pretty sure they move on, find new, less complicated, more mundane work…or they get eaten by something or other. I tend to be rather busy; really don’t have time to focus that much on the day to day personnel matters.” he flashed an almost playful smirk and slightly cheeky wink, squeezing Alec’s shoulder,

 

“But I am sure you will be fine. As you said, it takes a lot to really throw you. By all accounts you are quite adaptable. After all you handled assignments in eight different government agencies, over a span of fifteen years and led clandestine missions on six of the seven continents.”

 

Alec scoffed, totally ignoring the fact that all but like two of those was supposed to be on a strictly need to know basis…

 

“Yeah but the closest I came to a ‘nightmare creature’ during any of those was that golden orb spider in my hotel room in Australia- and I ended up leaving my stuff and sleeping in the truck on that one.”

 

Raphael snickered, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“You are afraid of spiders? Maybe steer clear of sub basement G. That’s the entomology department- a few months ago they caught a Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis that had somehow wandered through an anomaly into a person’s basement, it is nearly three feet long.”

 

Alec gulped, glancing around surreptitiously; half expecting to see it crawling up the wall of the office,

 

“Umm…y-you have a nearly three foot long spider here?”

 

Raphael shook his head,

 

“Oh no…there were never any spiders that big.”

 

Alec breathed a faint sigh of relief, before quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Then w-”

 

“Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis is not a spider per say, it is actually a type of scorpion, which is completely different. Though both are arachnids and I would assume the addition of claws that can produce enough pressure to bend steel and a whip like tale tipped with highly acidic venom does not make it ‘better’, correct?”

 

And yet again the only appropriate answer was rapid blinking,

 

“You would ‘assume’ right. Sub basement G?”

 

Raphael nodded

 

“It’s r-”

 

Alec waved him off,

 

“Oh believe me I’ll know exactly where it is by the end of the day. And I’m saying right now, head of security or not, if there’s an issue in there someone else is dealing with it.”

 

Raphael chuckled, shrugging, nodding towards the door,

 

“Fair enough, we are all allowed our little eccentricities. Bindy won’t set foot near the mammoth and Zane insists if we send him anywhere near the Anzu wyliei habitat the thing’s going to end up barbecue; though apparently that is to be expected. Bindy said he’s been freaked out by yard bird type fowl ever since they were kids and he was chased up a tree by a turkey…apparently he now has some kind of vendetta against them. Shall we begin your actual tour of the facility?”

 

Again with the blinking,

 

Okay…so his new job has time travelers, a stupidly hot mad scientist, a supervillian boss, dinosaurs, a freaking three foot scorpion, an apparent demon chicken from hell and a-he’s assuming from context- coworker with a vendetta against said hell chicken and all other ‘yard bird like fowl’…

 

 _You know what? Screw it, he’s just gonna go with it_.

 

His new theory is that this is either all an unbelievably elaborate prank or he’s in fact wandered into some kind of mental facility and somehow been dosed to make him experience the delusions of the inhabitants…

 

Really that made far more sense than anything else he’s heard in the last hour. He shrugged, giving a slightly disbelieving half laugh, figuring may as well just lean into the insanity till he comes out the other side,

 

“Sure, what the hell…lead the way…

 

Where we heading first?”

 

Raphael quirked his eyebrow at the rather sudden change before seemingly also deciding to just go right along with the change, flashing a quick smile, beginning towards the doors.

 

“First we can head to the labs; as I said the bulk of your job with be corralling Magnus, may as well get the most bizarre part of your job out of the way first. After that I’d like to make a quick stop in the infirmary so you can meet our head medical officer- I think that may help answer a few questions you have- plus as you can probably imagine going by what we do here it is quite beneficial to familiarize yourself with the med staff right off the bat.”

 

Alec nodding, giving a slightly scoffing laugh, tilting his head, looking over at the other man,

 

“Makes sense…So you’re sticking with this ‘Magnus’ being the most bizarre part of this job? You **_do_** realize you just finished telling me my job involved time travelers, dinosaurs and a man with a vendetta against chickens right?”

 

He chuckled, glancing over as he reached down, turning the handle, opening the door,

 

“Yes I am quite aware…I stand by my assessment.”

 

Alec couldn’t help rolling his eyes,

 

“Okay I think at this point you’re just screwing with me, seeing how much it takes to freak me out…no way the guy can be THAT bad.”

 

It was Raphael’s turn to scoff, moving over to a seemingly smooth, featureless wall, pressing his hand at what seemed like a random spot, the same odd two points appearing like on the doors coming in. He pressed his thumb to one, leaning in, the blue green light flickering over his eye, a seamless door opening soundlessly into a kind of balcony like catwalk circling the park like ‘habitats’ below. Raphael glanced over, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Get back to me in a week Captain. Let’s began, shall we?”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Raphael led him around the catwalk, skirting the edges of the habitats below, dropping quick little facts here and there about the various inhabitations. Alec was trying to remain calm and professional but it was pretty hard to seem relaxed and unimpressed when there is an actual freaking saber tooth cat along with three of its cubs staring back at him, bright, gleaming yellow eyes following him curiously.

 

The entire inner part of the building _(And seriously, how did he not realize how massive this place is?)_ is set up kinda like a zoo, with different habitats flowing together almost in some type of pattern. They’re separated by what looks like glass walls only they seem totally different than anything Alec’s ever seen.

 

They’re very thin, the edged coming about four feet above the catwalk, creating a kind of built in guardrail. They look to be less than half an inch thick and are totally translucent- he actually can’t definitively see where all they go, relying on the terrain below to gauge where one habitat ends and another begins. He couldn’t imagine glass that thin being able to hold up against these creatures. looking in he can see there’s a mammoth, the saber toothed cat, a large scaled dinosaur with a club like tail, and of course ‘Odette’.

 

No way glass would hold up to any of those, there had to be something more to it.

 

_Man, this place was just unreal…_

_No wonder they had the crazy security._

Alec shook his head before startling, glancing around in confusion, realizing Raphael had actually stopped a few feet back in front of a truly bizarre door…

 

_Woah…even with the whole dino zoo thing how did he miss that?_

Alec turned around back tracking a bit, giving a slight shrug at the amused smirk and eyebrow quirk, eyes flickering from Raphael to the door, blinking slightly.

 

“Sorry, this place is kinda distracting.”

 

He chuckled shaking his head, waving him off,

 

“It’s rather to be expected…like I said this place is unlike any other in the world. I’d actually be offended if someone _wasn’t_ at least a bit awestruck on their first visit.” He paused, jerking his head towards the oddly bright violet door, hand resting on the iridescent gold doorknob,

 

“This is Magnus’s lab…Hence the garishly hot purple door. I made the mistake of telling him he could make a few style changes to the lab to make it more to his tastes…I really only have myself to blame. On the plus side the lab techs say it serves as a pretty clear warning for the insanity you’re walking into, something about poison dart frogs and Barbie pink cyanide millipedes, so I suppose it does have a purpose besides scarring one’s eyes…” he shrugged, eyebrow once more quirking questioningly,

 

“Still doubt me about him being the craziest part of the job?”

 

Alec glanced over the garishly purple door with iridescent gold detailing, a little inkling of doubt slipping in before pushing it away.

 

_Come on…horrendous color choices aside how bad could the guy REALLY be?_

_And hey, there could be a logical explanation…_

_Maybe he’s colorblind… or had some weird vision thing that washed everything out so only glaringly bright things really stood out…_

_Raphael was just trying to screw with him…_

Alec shook his head,

 

“Three words-Time traveling dinosaurs.”

 

Raphael chuckled, shaking his head, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Okay then, don’t say I didn’t warn you...” with that he turned slightly, twisting the knob, slipping into the room. Alec followed close behind, nearly startling at the sudden burst of blaringly loud techno music, glancing over at Raphael. He huffed rolling his eyes, leaning in to be heard over the ruckus.

 

“He says it helps him work.”

 

Alec nodded faintly, eyes roving over the room blinking slightly in confusion…

 

_Yeah…when Raphael said ‘lab’ gotta admit this wasn’t what he was expecting…_

 

Wow…okay more proof for the whole vision issue theory. The walls of the lab were an oddly warm, luminescent aqua blue that really made as much sense as the whole dino exhibit thing. At first he thought they were painted but on closer examination looking at the wall by the door it actually seemed to be an odd projection type light radiating out from them, casting a soft blue tint along the edges of the office…

 

_Whoa…that’s trippy…_

 

The blue light didn’t go far into the room, just extending a few inches before being lost in the brilliant light emanating from the ceiling; a clear, sharp white that seemed to make everything stand out blazingly clear.

 

On the right hand wall there was a little sitting area, a lime green lounge flanked by two round violet tinted end tables apparently made from the same whatever it was the animal enclosures were made of, as well as a set of citrusy orange arm chairs situated in a kind of semi circle around a matching translucent, violet coffee table. The sitting area seemed defined, situated on a warm golden carpet.

 

_Wow…that was a LOT of color…_

It stood out in stark contrast to the white and stainless steel that filled the rest of the space.

 

_And when he said ‘filled’ he meant it…_

 

Every last surface was absolutely covered in pieces, component, scraps, material, gears and a lot of what looked like metal but was bunched up, pooled and folded like fabric…

 

_There were stacks of things taller than Alec was!_

 

_Geez…_

_Where do you even begin with this?_

 He didn’t see any rhyme or reason to any part of it. How could anyone find anything in this place? It looked like a hoarder went to a robotics convention and swung by a shut down scifi movie set on the way home!

 

_How would you even find a person in h-_

_Oh...there he is…well, part of him._

 

Hopefully that was him…he could see legs clad in purple jeans sticking out from under some bizarre machine in the center of the room, propped up on a couple translucent lime green stand like things made out of that weird not-glass-glass.

 

Alec realized under the music he could make out the sound of tools, and a bit of quiet singing along with the song,

 

_Hmm…he actually had a pretty nice voice…sounded better than the cat yowling of the actual ‘singer’ in any case,_

Alec could not even begin to guess what kind of machine it was; there were lights and what looked like a gyroscope and about a dozen other things that’d be right at home on a spaceship from an alien movie …or possibly an actual spaceship…

 

_What in the hell IS that thing?_

Curiosity getting the best of him Alec moved forward, looking over the thing with interest. Raphael slipped closer, wrapping quickly on the thing, causing the legs underneath to jerk slightly along with the clank of some metal tool dropping followed by a rather colorful, multilingual string of curses.

 

Alec had to bite his tongue to keep the chuckle internal,

 

 _“Damnit Raph!_ How many times do I have to tell you not to do that? You could’ve made me break the Anomaly stabilizer!”

 

“How many times do I have to tell YOU not to turn your music up so loud? This is a lab, not a nightclub.”

 

“Pfft…right… like you’d know what it’s like in a night club.”

 

Raphael rolled his eyes,

 

“Come out here, I need you to meet someone.”

 

Magnus groaned,

 

“What some other jar head you hired to babysit me? I told you I don’t need it, I’m fine.”

 

Raphael huffed,

 

“Magnus, in the last three months you have ran head on into a tropical storm for readings, nearly been trampled by a herd of mastodons, chased after a group of troodon in the mall- thankfully after it was closed, were nearly eaten by a pissed off spinosaurus, jumped through not one, not two but SIX totally unknown anomalies for data, got into a drinking contest with two Vikings, nearly got eaten by a literal sea serpent that came through from the Pleistocene era, stowed away on a freaking pirate ship, and was nearly eaten  _again_  by a giant short faced bear.

 

You are lucky I’m just hiring security for you and not having you committed! Hell, if I could without letting the ‘holes in time’ cat out of the bag I’d probably already have!”

 

_…Umm…_

 

_Oookay…maybe Raphael wasn’t exaggerating as much as he originally thought about this Magnus._

 

A few examples could’ve really helped the case.

 

_Oookay… He may be rethinking this. The guy was hot and the benefits amazing but… Yeesh… that’s a lot…_

 

Magnus huffed,

 

“You’re just being over dramatic…it’s really not any crazier than anyone else’s stories here…you just worry too much…I am fine.”

 

Alec couldn’t quite keep in a disbelieving laugh,

 

Magnus froze,

 

“What’s that jar head?”

 

_Jackass…_

_Pretty jackass, but still…_

 

“Nothing, just if even half of what he’s saying is true he kinda has a point. Sounds like you need all the help you can get.”

 

Magnus gasped,

 

_“Now look here Jar head-”_

 

“ _Actually_ my name is Alec…or Captain Lightwood. There’s no sense getting all huffy, I’m just stating the facts. If you’ve been nearly eaten by creatures three times in as many months you need a bit of help. I get working here you’re idea of ‘normal’ might be kinda skewed but seriously, that’s a lot.”

 

Magnus sighed, beginning to climb out from under the ‘Anomaly Stabilizer’

 

“Look Alec… sorry that was rude- Jar head was a low blow, I admit. I know you didn’t know what you were signing up for and I get that you’re just doing your job. But despite what my over protective best friend says I don’t need a babysitter. I am a fully grown, thirty two year old man. I do not need some uptight solider boy constantly on my…” he trailed off, catching sight of Alec, blinking in surprise, swallowing, eyes blatantly trailing from Alec’s eyes all the way down to his combat boots then all the way up.

 

Alec had to fight off the urge to cover himself…

 

Though Magnus’s distraction at least gave Alec time for his own blatant staring…

 

 _**Damn** _ _…the hologram SO did not do him justice…_

 

Magnus swallowed again, before seemingly shaking it off, shooting a glare Raphael’s way,

 

“You do NOT play fair.”

 

He chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“No I don’t…I play to win.” He glanced between the two, jerking his head towards the door,

 

“I actually have a few things I have to attend to…I trust I can leave him in your ‘capable’ hands, yes?”

 

Alec couldn’t help blushing brightly at that, glaring at his new supervillian boss  _(To absolutely no avail, except another annoyingly evil chuckle)_ Raphael winked playfully at Magnus, giving a slight wave, before turning, making his way out of the lab, pulling the door behind him.

 

_Damnit…_

Alec looked around, trying to come up with something to say to break the awkwardness, swallowing, going with the first thing that popped in his head,

 

“So I’m pretty sure our boss is a supervillian…thoughts?”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Of Chapter Notes
> 
> ##  _*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~_ _*_ _~*_
> 
>  
> 
> Oh mi Dios, que sabían que un soldado podrían ser tal una reina del drama? Oh my god, who knew a soldier could be such a drama queen?
> 
> This is gonna be such a fun, crazy verse to play in I already love it.
> 
>  
> 
> _Okay I may use this series to look up the most bizarre, hilariously terrifying creatures to ever live._
> 
> _We’ve seen T-rex and raptors and all of that a million times…when else have you seen ‘giant flesh eating devil chickens’ in a story?_
> 
> <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/20/satan_dinosaur_chickens_hell/>
> 
>  
> 
> This is just half the chapter, next half will also be from Alec’s POV, his first meeting with ‘Mad Scientist Magnus’…
> 
> This’ll be fun…
> 
> So what do you guys think so far?
> 
> The Barbie pink cyanide producing millipede actually does exist…
> 
> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmoxytes_purpur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmoxytes_purpurosea)


	3. Awkwardly Cute Or Cutely Awkward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _❤❤Chapter Complete!!❤❤_

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Magnus stood up, dusting himself off, brushing his hair back. He glanced back at Alec, eyes trailing over him once more, flashing a curious, playfully flirtatious little smile. Alec smiled back, nodding faintly, beginning to fold his arms before stopping, thinking better of it, putting his hands in his pockets instead.

 

_Oookay…think of something to say…_

_Wow he’s pretty…_

 

Alright, something besides that. I mean it’s definitely true but kinda forward so far as the second thing you’ve ever said to someone goes…Especially when your new supervillian boss doesn’t so much as bother to make up an even remotely convincing lie and basically just tosses you in a room together…

_God…this feels like an awkward school dance._

_Come on, just talk!_

_ANYTHING…_

_His Job…_

_Your new job…_

_Oasis…_

_Odette The time traveling Dinosaur…_

_Sports…_

_The Weather…_

_SOMETHING!_

 

He took a deep breath,

 

“Umm…s-so…”

 

_Alright…that’s almost a start…keep going…_

“Umm…So…hi…”

_Oh god this is actually bordering on physically painful really w-_

 

“Hey,” Magnus said reaching up, fiddling with a silver cuff like dragon thing on his left ear.

 

He swallowed, clearing his throat, giving a soft laugh, rolling his eyes at himself,

 

“Damnit I am SO gonna get that obnoxious brat back for this…”

 

That startled a laugh out of Alec, he blinked faintly,

 

“What?”

 

Magnus huffed again, waving him off,

 

“Oh Raph- he is such a jackass sometimes. He purposely made this as awkward as possible. It’s alright I’ll find a way to get back at him for the both of us. Plaster the building with the pictures of him from high school when he had Barbie pink hair…maybe even reset the décor in his office to match. I’m thinking lots of fluffy pillows, hearts and motivational cat posters.”

 

Alec burst out laughing, shaking his head faintly,

 

“Uhh- I did not hear that…but if you do is there a security feed we can watch to see his reaction?”

 

Magnus chuckled, eyes sparking mischievously,

 

“Technically no; he encrypts the feeds from his office- but I found out how to get around them months ago so we can totally have a front row seat for it…I’ll even make popcorn for the show.”

 

Alec laughed, shaking his head,

 

 “Oh wow…okay he may be a supervillian but he was right about one thing…you definitely need security…or a straight jacket. Clearly you like to live dangerously.”

 

Magnus shrugged, smirking,

 

“Does tend to keep things interesting…and he did start it…I’m just going to finish it.” he smiled, stepping forward, extending his hand,

 

“Anyways…hi, Magnus Bane; chief scientist for Oasis.”

 

Alec chuckled, reaching forward, taking his hand, shaking firmly, lingering.

 

“Alec Lightwood new head of security…and apparently your new bodyguard/babysitter.”

 

Magnus huffed, rolling his eyes,

 

“I do not need security.”

 

Alec snorted,

 

“Uh no…you do…you really, REALLY do…”

 

“I do not!”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, smirking,

 

“So…all the things Raphael said…they weren’t true?”

 

“Well…no, they were bu-”

 

“So you were almost eaten by a Spinosaurus, and a sea serpent **_and_** a bear?”

 

“Yes but that’s taken out o-”

 

And you did chase a herd of Troodon through a mall?”

 

“A flock- not a herd.”

 

“Uh huh…right totally different. And the pirate ship?”

 

“Okay now there is a VERY good explanation for that one.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“And that is?”

 

 Magnus rolled his eyes, gesturing animatedly,

 

_“It was a **pirate ship!”**_

Alec burst out laughing, shaking his head in disbelief,

 

“Uh yeah…no you most definitely need security…and I most definitely need to be sure I keep my health insurance up. No wonder the policies here are so good. I SO should’ve read the fine print.”

 

Magnus chuckled,

 

“Wouldn’t of helped, Raph oversees all of the new hire forms. It’d take a team of lawyers and an expert in cryptology to actually make sense of those damn things. Pretty sure a contract written by an actual demon would be more straightforward.”

 

Alec laughed, giving a slight shrug,

 

“Probably less unsettling first meeting too.”

 

Magnus snickered, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“That bad huh?”

 

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes, ticking them off on his fingers,

 

“Well…let’s see; just going into his office felt like entering the lair of a supervillian, he even did the dramatic chair turn reveal thing- I half expected an eye patch…no eye patch but he was twirling a dagger- he said it was a letter opener but I have my doubts. Then he knew a scary amount about me- like classified, top secret things and even my very first crush- which was SO far beyond creepy…Though not as creepy as when I thought he was hiring me because he thought I was hot…

 

Yeah…definitely the most uncomfortable first meeting with a boss I’ve ever had…and with my job history that’s saying a lot.”

 

Magnus chuckled again, shrugging

 

“Sorry about that-Raph does rather like his little games; just think of it as an initiation, and a way to weed out those who can’t hack it. I swear he isn’t really that bad once you get to know him- so long as you stay on his good side. He just tends to play to his strengths.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Supervillianny, snark and intimidation?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“Yes…and if all that fails there’s always good, old fashioned seduction…It’s surprisingly effective.”

 

Alec shook his head quickly,

 

 “Oh, thank goodness the first three worked with me.”

 

Magnus chuckled,

 

“Not really your type I take it?”

 

Alec scoffed, again shaking his head,

 

“Uh…no…really not into short, oddly intimidating bond villains types.”

 

“G-good to know…” Magnus laughed, eyes sparkling with amusement and maybe a bit of something else, flickering over Alec,

 

_Wow…that was just…_

_Wow…_

Alec blinked, flushing slightly, trying to keep the awkward tongue-tied feeling from coming back,

 

“I-umm…I guess at least now I do kind of get why it’s so crazily complicated…this place really is something else, no wonder it has so many disclaimers and confidentiality agreements.”

 

Magnus smiled, nodding excitedly,

 

“Yes it is rather a necessity with our work. There truly is no other place like Oasis…”

 

Alec gave a slightly too loud laugh, nodding, rubbing at his face. He pushed his hair back, slumping faintly against one of the tables, the reality of all of this suddenly hitting him full force.

 

“Understatement of the century…This really is completely insane. Honestly up till now I’ve been half convinced I was slipped something and just hallucinating this. I mean we’re talking about time travel and dinosaurs and I just walked past a family of saber-toothed cats! Hell the only reason I don’t think it’s a hallucination is because I don’t think I’m creative enough to come up with even half of this…” He swallowed, realizing that sounded bordering on pathetic, shrugging faintly,

 

“Sorry to kind of bring this down…this is just a lot to take in. It’s kinda just really hitting me that this is my new reality…and…It…It’s a lot.”Alec paused, taking a deep breath, giving a somewhat hopeless shrug,

 

“I really don’t know if I can process all of this. I mean I thought I was taking a nice civilian job- just security at a tech firm. I’ve been a soldier, worked for the government. I’ve faced crazy, terrifying missions, danger and insanity pretty much my entire adult life. I thought this was a _break_ from all that…

 

And now I’m working for what I am fairly certain is a supervillian in the making as head of security for a clandestine organization trying to corral a ridiculously pretty mad scientist and dealing with time travelers, dinosaurs and terrifying monsters from the past.

 

L-like I said…it’s just a lot.”

 

Magnus gave a gentle laugh and a kind smile, shaking his head faintly, settling closer next to him,

 

“Sweetheart, there’s no need to apologize, you’re absolutely right. It is a lot. A lot to process, a lot to realign with your view of the world, a lot to experience…it is just _a lot;_ period.

 

 I’ve been working here for nearly four years ever since we first discovered the anomalies- I still sometimes wake up in the morning and wonder if it was all a crazy dream. It is insane; we work with dinosaurs, travel through holes in time, meet people from the past, get glimpses of the future…

We get to see it all.

 

I realize right now when you haven’t even known about it for an hour it seems uncomprehendible, and daunting…like it is just far too much to even begin to handle…

 

And even after you adjust there will still be times when it feels like that.

 

I am not going to lie; our work is dangerous, and insane, terrifying and at times near maddening…probably more so than any job or mission you have ever had.

 

But honestly, after being here I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

 

 It is a lot…

 

But it is so SO worth it.” He reached over, resting his hand on Alec’s, squeezing gently, tilting his head, a bit of something sparking in those deep, strikingly beautiful brown eyes.

 

“I realize this is not what you signed up for…it is not anything like you thought it would be, but give it a chance, please? Just a chance. Let me give you a tour, answer your questions, introduce you to some of the other people; I promise you will be surprised at just how well you fit here.

 

What do you say?”

 

Alec sighed, eyes flickering over his warm, hopeful smile, feeling any resolve he had melting away,

 

_Yeah…there’s no real argument against that smile…._

_Even when the argument includes time traveling dinosaurs and a super villain boss…_

 

 Alec flashed a slight smile, shrugging, pushing off the table,

 

“I say this is insane, and I’m pretty sure by the end of today I’ll be in need of a psych eval…but so long as the tour doesn’t take us anywhere near sub basement B or the entomology lab I’ll give it a shot. Where do you want to start?”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 “And so then the damn thing charged right at him and Raph had to leap out of the way and straight into a pond overgrown with some type of bright orange algae. Bindy and Valarie did finally manage to herd the Triceratops back through the anomaly and it was pretty far out there so we didn’t have to try to come up with a press release explaining why there was a pissed off triceratops traipsing about the everglades but still Raphael was furious. It was his favorite suit and the Algae stained…quite badly in fact…especially his skin. He looked like a very fashionable, VERY pissed off oompa loompa for over a week.”

 

Alec laughed, shaking his head in disbelief as they took another turn, moving along the hallways, Magnus pointing out various projects, chattering on animatedly, eyes bright and sparkling with excitement. He’s been here nearly an hour, Magnus catching his hand, leading him around the facility.

 

 They were supposed to be heading over to the medical unit- Magnus seemed quite insistent that’s where they should start, though he was pretty vague as to why, however he seemed to keep getting distracted. Bounding from one area to the next, breathlessly trying to explain everything he could as quickly as he could, almost as if he’s still trying to convince Alec to stay…

 

_Yeah…by this point it’s pretty much irrelevant, he’s not going anywhere._

Magnus’s enthusiasm was practically infectious. Alec still had a bit of the ‘this has gotta be a hallucination…there’s a freaking dinosaur RIGHT there…time travel exists and is going to be part of my everyday job…A BIG part’ nerves thing, but one look at Magnus’s sparkling bright eyes and excited smile and all the craziness seemed less daunting and more intriguing.

 

They were making their way to the Medical bay on the second floor, Magnus filling the silence with stories of their missions- paying particular attention to the ones that cast Raphael in a more human light…

 

It was very entertaining…

 

Alec smiled, shaking his head, trying to stifle his laughter, glancing back over at Magnus, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Wow…please tell me you have pictures of that?”

 

Magnus gave an impish smirk, winking playfully,

 

“And I have dozens of other stories just as ridiculous. I realize this seems like an insane, overwhelming, at times terrifying place to work…and that’s because it is…but it really is the most amazing job you could ever have. I love this place; I really couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.” Magnus glanced over, an oddly knowing glimmer to his deep brown eyes,

 

“The work is amazing but it’s the people that really make Oasis so extraordinary. Our staff is amazing- some of the finest, bravest, most brilliant people you will ever meet. It’s a bizarre mix of archeologists, paleontologists, biologists, and near all other manner of scientists, medical doctors, military professionals- such as yourself, a couple of interns and what can only be described as ‘other’ cause really there’s some that just there’s no defining them, but without whom we’d be lost.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, tilting his head,

 

“Interns? How’s that work with the whole super secret facility thing?”

 

Magnus laughed, giving a slight shrug

 

“Well truth be told that wasn’t originally planned. Our chief Medical officer’s teenage brother happened to be with her when she got a call. She dropped him off with a fairly vague excuse and he ended up following her to an anomaly sight. Kid was crafty as hell, slipped right past our security- saw pretty much everything- the anomaly, the three Bambiraptor’s that had came through, the antics of the security staff trying to round them up, all of it. There wasn’t really any explaining away three real dinosaurs and a glowing hole in the fabric of time, so we didn’t really know what to do.

 

They brought him back here to debrief and Raphael was fairly impressed with his intelligence- also his ability to slip around our security staff. Ended up conferring with his sister and they offered him a kind of part time after school and weekends job. He jumped at it; I mean what teenage boy wouldn’t want to work with actual live dinosaurs? The young man fits perfectly here…he has a very bright future.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“Man, that’s something else. My first after school job was reshelving books at the local library…doesn’t really measure up. And it doesn’t worry you guys at all having a teen involved in all the secrecy and everything?”

 

Again Magnus shrugged,

 

“Well, truthfully at first we were all quite apprehensive; I mean this is pretty big thing to expect from a teen. Trying to keep something like this to themselves; seems a pretty big ask. But he has more than surpassed all of our expectations. Hell, the kids better with it than a lot of the adults that work here. Besides it really did turn out to be quite fortunate having him here as a few weeks later we ended up getting our other intern. The kid was absolutely an invaluable resource during that whole thing.”

 

Alec snorted, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“What? Someone else’s sibling followed along again? You know, I’m starting to have doubts about my security staff- Raphael did say he handpicked them himself-which I get the feeling he has a real knack for that, but if two teens managed to outsmart them I may be rethinking that.”

 

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head, waving him off,

 

“No…no more siblings. Our other intern is actually one of the travelers. He stumbled through an anomaly and ended up lost in the Los Padres National forest. He was lost out there for a couple hours. By the time we found him the anomaly had been closed for quite some time.”

 

Alec blinked, swallowing, steps faltering, glancing over towards Magnus, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Wow…poor kid, he’s all alone here?”

 

Magnus nodded,

 

“Yes it was quite an adjustment. Thankfully we had our intern, he stepped up in a big way. They’re the same age so he helped him adjust to all the randomness of being a teen in 2050. Helped him get ready for high school, navigate social media and pop culture, all of that.

 

As I said while it was never exactly planned it really did turn out to be a blessing in disguise.”

 

Alec smiled, nodding back,

 

“That’s good, probably helped a lot having someone the kid could relate to. I’m glad it all worked out. Are they here today?”

 

Magnus nodded,

 

“Yeah, they’ll likely be in the Med-bay with his sister. She heads up the med staff- the girl’s a force of nature. Even Raphael is wary of getting on her bad side, just to give you an idea.”

  
Alec laughed, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“So…make sure I stay on here good side? Duly noted. If she makes Raphael nervous I definitely don’t want to tick her off. I get the feeling our boss falls well into that ‘other’ category so far as the staff goes, right?”

 

Magnus chuckled, nodding, rolling his eyes affectionately,

 

“Oh yes, most definitely. Raph is in a category all on his own. I’ve known him nearly his entire life and even I don’t think I know everything there is to know about the man.” Magnus sighed, slipping a bit closer, catching Alecs eye, flashing a slight smile,

 

 “I really don’t want you to get the wrong impression; Raphael IS a good man, truthfully one of the best people I’ve ever known. It’s hidden behind the dramatics, the edge and the whole persona ‘thing’ he has going, but at his heart he is good. I know he is a lot to take in and truthfully I’m pretty sure he delights in seeing how freaked out he can make someone from the smallest, most innocuous thing or comment, but all of that’s just playing…”

 

Alec snorted, shaking his head,

 

“So what? You’re saying he’s not dangerous? Magnus, I may not know about time travel, dinosaurs, anomalies and whatever else is involved with Oasis, but I DO know a threat when I see one…”

 

Magnus tilted his head in acknowledgement,

 

“I never said he wasn’t dangerous. He can be… I’m not going to lie, in the right circumstances the man can be downright terrifying. But intimidation and the like aside he is only a real danger to a legitimate threat to someone or something he loves.

 

Trust me, push comes to shove there is no one better to have in your corner.”

 

Alec chuckled, nodding faintly,

 

“Yeah…I can see that. Absolutely rather be on his side then against him.”

 

Magnus slowed to a stop as they slipped through the door to the Med-bay, turning towards him, clapping him on the shoulder. He squeezed, lingering a moment too long. His eyes flickered down from Alec’s eyes to his shoulder and arm appreciatively before moving back up, giving a playful wink,

 

“See? Smart man. You’ll fit in perfectly here.”

 

“Yup…just like a member of the family.”

 

Alec froze at the oh so familiar voice.

 

_W-what?_

_That…that sounded like…_

He shook his head, looking from Magnus over to the speaker,

 

He blinked,

 

And he blinked again…

 

_What the hell?_

“Izzy?”

 

_Oookay…umm…he may be revisiting the whole ‘It’s a hallucination’ thing…_

_This had to be a hallucination…_

Why else would his freaking sister be randomly standing in the Med-bay of his new super secret, bat crap crazy job? In a white lab coat over a deep red dress, black rose nylons and terrifyingly sharp red heels (He knows how sharp those damn things are- he stepped on them far too many times at her place), looking for all the world like she was totally at home here.

 

Alec shook his head, blinking a few more times, looking from Izzy over to Magnus, swallowing, pointing vaguely towards her,

 

“Umm…M-Magnus? I think I might be hallucinating after all…”

 

Magnus gave a slightly guilty smile, shrugging,

 

“Only if you see someone other than Dr. Isabelle Lightwood.” he brushed his hair back, shaking his head,

 

“Sorry for the shock darling. I didn’t even know myself until your last name clicked and I saw you- there is a hell of a family resemblance, really wasn’t any missing it. I really didn’t know how to just casually mention your siblings work here…figure-.”

 

Alec startled,

 

“Wait Siblings… _Plural?_ But w…” he startled again, eyes wide,

 

“The intern! Max? _Are you kidding me?”_ Alec blinked, looking from Magnus to Izzy, scanning the room. Over by some big complicated machine Max hesitatively poked his head out before stepping the rest of the way into view followed closely by another all too familiar face, giving a slightly awkward wave,

 

“Uhh…h-hey Alec…”

 

“Hey…”

 

Alec blinked uncomprehendingly,

 

“Isaac?”

 

The blond boy shrugged, giving a slightly nervous smile,

 

“Yup…that’s me.”

 

Alec shook his head, looking from the teens over to his sister than finally back to Magnus, trying to make some sense of all of this,

 

It wasn’t working.

 

“Magnus…what? This is just…So…what?”

 

Magnus shook his head, giving a gentle, vaguely concerned smile, resting his hand on Alec’s arm, squeezing again,

 

“Breath darling- I know it is a lot to process. I swear this should be the craziest part of the tour. I know it’s a lot to take in. Are you holding up okay sweetheart?”

 

Alec swallowed, shrugging, giving a kind of noncommittal nod,

 

_He really didn’t know how he was doing…_

His sister and teenage brother work at his super secret, bat crap crazy new job…

 

Had been working at it for a while.

 

Max and Isaac have been friends for over a year…which means Max has been interning here for even longer than that…

 

And Izzy?

Izzy was a doctor, forensic expert and a pathologist. She had numerous medical and scientific skill sets and tended to make use of all of them. He knew her work was a bit secretive as she worked on various, sometimes high profile criminal cases. That’s why she never talked about her work…At least that’s what he thought…

 

 Apparently that’s not the case.

 

Magnus tilted his head, slipping closer, squeezing his arm once more. Alec met his eyes, giving a slight facsimile of a smile,

 

“I am sorry for the bombardment darling.” Magnus shifted his gaze from Alec over to Izzy, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“I may have been a bit more prepared if they’d of given me a bit of a heads up beforehand. You are not going to tell me this is just coincidental…”

 

Izzy huffed rolling her eyes, stepping towards them, the teens moving closer as well, Max looking Alec over worriedly,

 

“Oh please Mags, you wouldn’t have listened anyways. You’re a stubborn ass when it comes to the security thing and you know it. I even mentioned once that my older brother would be perfect for it.”

 

Magnus gasped,

 

“I don’t remember that…I would’ve remembered that!” He glanced back over at Alec gaze slipping over him once more, shaking his head, giving a bit of a sigh, looking back at Izzy, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“I would most definitely remember you telling me about _that_.”

 

Alec couldn’t help blushing, rolling his eyes. Max and Isaac laughed faintly, relaxing a bit. Apparently they thought that meant he was okay…

_He wasn’t…but they didn’t need to know that,_

Izzy rolled her eyes,

 

“First off? Eww. Next no you wouldn’t because anytime anyone brings it up you shut them down cold. You ignored me…Raphael didn’t. We’ve been working to get him on here for months.”

 

_Months!? He got the job offer last week!_

 

Alec blinked, glancing over at Max, quirking his eyebrow in confusion. Max shrugged, giving a slight nod.

 

_Oh great so both his sibling were working for months to rope him into this craziness…super…_

Magnus gave a surprised laugh

 

“So…you actually plotted to hire your ridiculously hot brother just to keep me from ditching my security? That’s just…Okay so that’s actually a pretty solid plan.”

 

She chuckled, shaking her head,

 

“No- and again, eww- I plotted to have my brother hired as your security because ditching my big brother would get you on my bad side and you know that’s nowhere you want to be. Also you know Max would cook up some form of revenge for ditching what is basically his idol and when he really wants to be he’s as imaginative as you or even Raphael when it comes to payback…

 

You know you don’t want that.”

 

Magnus blinked quirking his eyebrow at Max, who shrugged back, giving a slight smirk,

 

“She’s not wrong.”

 

Magnus outright laughed at that, shrugging,

 

“Both excellent points.” he paused, glancing back at Alec, sighing faintly,

 

 “Darling I truly am sorry for the craziness of this…if it helps this is probably the most unbelievable thing you will face today…”

 

Alec shook his head, looking from Magnus over to Izzy and the teens, shaking his head again,

 

“I…I really don’t even know where to start on this. I thought I had questions before, but this is just insane. You’re telling me my forensic expert sister and teenage brother have been chasing dinosaurs and god knows what else around the world for over a year…and I knew nothing about it?

 

That…that’s a lot to process…”

 

Izzy softened a bit, slipping closer,

 

“I know it is, and we are sorry for bombarding you like this.” she paused, glancing over at Max, shrugging,

 

“We tried to come up with a way to ease you into it, or give you some kind of hints or whatever but…hell…how do you just casually mention ‘oh by the way there’s an opening at my super secret job and you’d be perfect for it’?”

 

Max snorted, nodding quickly,

 

“She’s right, we really did try…that’s why I’ve been dragging you to every movie I could think of that had dinosaurs, time travel or mad scientists…admittedly there weren’t a heck of a lot of them but I did try.”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head, moving over to Max, hugging him a bit too tight. Max hugged him back, shaking his head,

 

“Alec I really am sorry about all the secrecy. We hated keeping it from you but there’s no way to explain this place that seems believable…not without actually seeing it for yourself. And that could only happen if you were hired on here.”

 

Izzy smiled, moving over to her brothers, glancing up, meeting Alec’s eyes, giving a slight nod,

 

“He’s right…it was actually Max’s idea to try to get you hired on in the first place- he really did hate keeping it from you.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow, a bit of the tension easing in his shoulders,

 

“Oh, and you didn’t?”

 

She shrugged,

 

“I did…but at this point I’m kinda used to it. But I’m really glad you’re here. Between my old job and your old jobs it’s not like we’ve ever really been able to talk much about work things. Thought it’d be kinda nice all three of us having people to actually share in the insanity of our day to day. I mean I know it’s a huge change and I know you’re in full on big brother mode right now, probably trying to figure a way to get us out of it, keep us safe. You’re going over all the dangers involved and all the ways it could go wrong, but Alec? I’ve been dealing with this for nearly three years, Max for half that…we’re fine here…we really are.

 

This place is amazing, the people are amazing, and honestly working here is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are so happy working here- wouldn’t give it up for nearly anything…

 

And I know once the shock wares off and you settle in you’ll feel the same way.”

 

Alec looked from Izzy over to Max, sighing, shaking his head,

 

“I really don’t k-”

 

Isaac stepped forward, meeting Alec’s eyes,

 

“Alec, I know how crazy this seems…and I know what worries you most is Max’s involvement- no one could tell Izzy what to do… _ever_ -”

 

Alec snorted at that, him, Max and Magnus giving pretty enthusiastic nods at that, Izzy gave a dismissive shrug,

 

“Hey I know what I want, I’m not afraid to go after it…not my fault if that’s intimidating to some people.”

 

“Most people…” Alec muttered,

 

“Try _all_ people.” Magnus chimed in with a laugh,

 

Isaac smiled before focusing back on Alec,

 

“I know how insane this seems, and it has to be about the last place you’d ever expect to see your little brother, but we need him here. _I_ need him here. And I know that seems selfish but without having him here I would’ve been totally lost.

 

I came through an anomaly. I’m from 2100, fifty years in the future. I knew nothing about this town, or this place. The anomalies don’t just open to random times, but also places. I grew up in 22nd century Philadelphia. I was on a field trip for school, going through the Pine Barrens and got lost. I stumbled through an anomaly and straight into a national forest on the opposite coast fifty years in my past.” He paused, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck,

 

Alec sighed giving a sympathetic look,

 

“I’m sorry you had to face all of that.”

 

He gave a slight shrug,

 

“It was insane, but at least I had Max. I was lost in the woods for hours, then when I finally did end up getting found I end up getting  brought to this bizarre, clandestine ‘tech company’ with saber-toothed cats and giant bugs and freaking dinosaurs and what can only be described as a supervillian boss-”

 

“Right!? You see it too?” Alec laughed, gesturing,

 

Isaac chuckled, nodding emphatically,

 

“Oh yeah totally- he’s just a deathray and an eye patch away from being a fully fledged Bond villain. Think the damn dinosaurs are less unsettling sometimes. So I got brought here and it was just insane…they didn’t really know what to do with me, they never had any travelers as young as me- not any that were alone in any case. So they’re conferencing and planning and going round and round and I’m just kinda freaking out and trying to get a grasp of what the hell’s going on because yeah I’m from the future but even in 2100 Time Travel so far as I knew was pure fiction. But while I was waiting for them to figure out what to do I happened to run into Max, and he was great. He sat with me, shared a couple comic books he had with him. Pulled up music and movies and all kinds of random pop culture things. Told me about his school and just random teen stuff…that’s what I needed.

 

He showed me around town, and around school, helped me adjust. I-I literally would not have been able to handle it without him. So I know it seems insane and I know you think he’s far too young for all of this but…well…so am I…but I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

 

I know it’s a lot, but, please? Give it a chance- I swear, once you see how well he does here you’ll understand. This is where he belongs.”

 

Max smiled at his best friend, glancing from him to Alec, nodding,

 

“It really is Alec.”

 

Alec sighed, looking from the teens over to Izzy, she shrugged,

 

“He’s my baby brother too…if I thought for even one second he was in danger here I’d get him the hell out of here, you know that. He works in the lab, he doesn’t go out to anomalies…we’ve talked about it and eventually he wants to be able to, but that’s not happening till he is eighteen and has passed every possible training situation we can throw at him- and trust me we have a LOT planned. At this point pretty much the entire facility sees him as their little brother, they are fiercely protective. No one here will let anything happen to him.”

 

Alec shifted from Izzy over the teens hopeful expressions, and finally over to Magnus. He smiled, nodding,

 

“That is quite true…the boy is in no danger here, we ensure that.”

 

Max stepped forward, glancing around at the rest of them, before focusing back on Alec,

 

“Alec, I love it here- this is what I want to do with my life. I know it’s a lot, and I know it’s insane, but it’s also extraordinary and fascinating and almost magical. There is no place like this in the world and…I-I really couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.”

 

Alec sighed, faltering, shaking his head,

 

“Max…it really seems pretty dangerous for a teenager.”

 

He shrugged,

 

“Well it can be, but I am old enough to make my own decisions. I’ll be eighteen in a few months, even if you tried to get me to quit, you’ve seen the paperwork here- it’d take at least that long for it to go through- then I’d just reapply and as I know everyone here and they all like me I’d be right back. I love it here and I’m not leaving…It can be dangerous, but it is SO worth it.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“So what you’re saying is even if I don’t like it, I don’t really have a say in it right?”

 

Max shrugged,

 

 

“Pretty much, yeah. I’d hate to disappoint you but I could not give this place up…I just couldn’t.”

 

Alec sighed,

 

“Max I see how important this is to you but it’s just so dangerous…”

 

Max smirked, quirking his eyebrow right back,

 

“True…but like I said I’m not going anywhere. Though if you’re really concerned it’d be a lot safer with my big brother working here.”

 

Alec gave a surprised laugh, eyes widening,

 

 “Oh wow…that was sneaky…”

 

Magnus gave a surprised, delighted laugh, quirking his eyebrow, nodding in approval,

 

“I agree…well done darling.”

 

Max chuckled, sending a playful wink Magnus’s way before turning back to Alec, giving an unconcerned shrug,

 

“Hey, Izzy IS my big sister…had to get something from her…plus I’ve known Magnus and Raphael for nearly two years now, that’s like the trifecta from hell right there. So…are you gonna stay? try to keep Magnus out of trouble? Make sure I’m safe? Please I promise you won’t regret it.”

 

Alec blinked, looking around the room at the four hopeful expressions. He laughed, shaking his head, finally giving a slight nod,

 

“Hell…my teenage brother’s working with a supervillian, a ridiculously pretty mad scientist, a time traveler from the future and freaking **_Izzy_** …think I have to, just to make sure it doesn’t all go totally off the rails.”

 

Max beamed, doing a fist pump

 

**_“Yes!”_ **

 

The others seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, relaxing slightly. Magnus settled close to Alec’s side, a bright, mischievous spark in those bewitching deep brown eyes,

 

“Wonderful…I am so glad you are staying, though I still maintain I do not need security-”

 

He’s cut off by a series of four nearly identical scoffing laughs, Magnus huffed, casting a heatless glare around the room before focusing back on Alec,

 

“In any case I am glad you are staying.”

 

Alec shrugged, giving a slightly hesitating smile,

 

“I think I am too…”

 

Magnus chuckled, tilting his head, the impish grin returning ten fold, leaning a bit closer,

 

“So…you think I’m ‘ridiculously pretty’, hmm?”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> [Bambiraptor](https://www.thoughtco.com/bambiraptor-1091760) was actually a thing, it’s not just me tossing in Disney things…but once I saw it WAS I couldn’t resist…
> 
> I wanted something that wouldn’t immediately give Alec a heart attack at his brother running into (It’s still a raptor and it still ate meat so it’s not like it’s exactly safe but better than a lot of options)
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, I know it’s a random cutoff but Chapter 4 will pick up pretty much right here. We got most of the intros out of the way, we’ll be moving more into the actual storyline part soon.
> 
>  
> 
> What do you guys think so far?


	4. Hit The Ground Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _❤❤Chapter Complete!!❤❤_

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus-Magnus

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh…umm…t-that’s…” Alec stammered, flushing

 

Magnus couldn’t help a faint chuckle, smirking,

 

Alec huffed, rolling his eyes, trying to muster up a glare- it didn’t really work with the whole blushing thing…

 

_Cute though._

## Alec turned from him focusing on Izzy,

 

“So, the Med lab at a company dealing with time travel, extinct creatures and god only knows what else? Guessing there’s some pretty crazy stuff in here and since for once we’re both under the same confidentiality agreements and the like you can actually tell me about it.”

 

She quirked her eyebrow, glancing between Alec and Magnus before smiling, giving a slight nod, beckoning Alec to follow her, beginning the lab tour in earnest.

 

Magnus hung back, giving the siblings time to talk…and also giving himself a chance to ogle a bit more.

 

Alright, He really didn’t need security but he sure as hell wasn’t about to turn down a chance to spend plenty of one on one time with a gorgeous guy with a sexy voice and the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.

 

_Yeah…definite upside there._

_Even though he SO does not need the whole personal security thing._

 

He still didn’t really know what all the fuss was about. Yes, alright he did get into a few scrapes, have a few close calls but all in all he really didn’t get into THAT much trouble. I mean yeah, to an outsider not accustomed to Oasis it may seem like a lot but really it’s not like he gets into much more than the rest of the team. It was sweet of Raphael to be so concerned- and he did understand, Magnus was his family, nearly his only family- he really did get why he was so protective.

 

Still the idea of having someone constantly on his ass, following him around, checking up on him, Always close, always there…It was a bit much. The thought of having a personal guard whose main job was just to watch him and try to keep him out of trouble seemed downright insulting.

 

_At least it did…_

_Then he saw Alec…_

_Woah…_

_Yeah he totally takes back any objections he had._ _He’s all for having his very own security. He has NO problem with Alec being as close as he wants…like none…_

_Again…_ **wow…**

Raph was crafty as hell, he’d give him that. He wondered for a moment if he’d actually seen a photo of the guy first or just assumed he’d be hot. I mean it wouldn’t exactly be much of a leap- Izzy was a total knockout and Max, while young was clearly growing into a very handsome young man…wouldn’t be that big of a leap to figure the other sibling would be pretty attractive.

 

Oh who’s he kidding? It’s **_Raph_**. he doesn’t leave anything to chance.

 

Even so, had to give the guy credit, he definitely hit the nail on the head. Alec was flat out gorgeous. Tall, very well built, deep, sexy voice that just… _hmm_ … breathtakingly beautiful smile, and Magnus’s biggest weakness, sexy, kinda messy dark hair paired with truly striking hazely green eyes.

 

_Hmm…_

He’s always had a weakness for the dark hair light eye combo.

 

Alec really did tic every last box Magnus had- And Raph would know that damn good and well.

 

_Sneaky little brat…_

Magnus didn’t know if he needed to come up with a retaliation plan or a thank you gift…

 

_Eh, he’ll just do both._

In any case Isabelle was right about one thing- no way he’d be stupid enough to ditch their brother. First off he just genuinely liked the two- Izzy really was one of his closest friends here and Max was like the little brother he never had  _(You know the sweet, cute brother, not the supervillianish, bordering on terrifying in the right circumstances Raphael type brother)._ He’d never do anything to purposefully upset them, and ditching their older brother- or doing anything to get him to leave the job- would fall squarely into that category.

 

He could see how happy and relieved Max was when Alec agreed to stay, there was no way he’d do anything to take that away from the kid.

 

Also he’s fairly sure close friend or not if he screwed this up for her big brother Izzy would totally kick his ass. The girl’s a total knockout and a genuinely interesting, fun person but she can give Raphael a run for the money on the whole unsettlingly intimidating thing when she wants to.

 

_Yeah, he really has no recourse here- he’s not getting out of this security detail._

_Good thing he doesn’t really want to._

 

He glanced at Alec standing over by Izzy and the teens, the three showing him around the lab, explaining the different equipment. His eyes lingered, trailing over Alec again, He shook his head faintly,

 

_Hmm…damn_

_Yeah…he’s definitely cozying up to this whole personal security thing._

_Or at least he’d like to._

He smiled, moving next to the others, settling close to Alec’s side. He glanced over, flashing a quick smile. Magnus tilted his head,

 

“So, random familial surprise notwithstanding, what do you think darling?”

 

He chuckled, shaking his head,

 

“I think this is completely insane and I am gonna have several times when I think this is all a bizarre dream or hallucination…but at least with Iz and Max here too I can confirm I’m not insane…it’s just my workplace that is.”

 

Magnus laughed, nodding,

 

“That’s one way to look at it…though I’m pretty sure a staple of hallucinations is the whole ‘seeing familiar faces in unfamiliar situations’ thing.”

 

Max nudged him, raising his eyebrow,

 

“Not helping dude…”

 

Magnus laughed, putting his hands up placatingly,

 

“Hey, I’m just saying…”

 

Isaac rolled his eyes,

 

“Yeah well, stop ‘saying’…just go back to the painfully obvious flirting-it worked better.” he smirked, giving a kinda flippant wave,

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow,

 

“Hey now, None of that! This is a place of business, there’s no room for teenage insolence- It’s all decorum and tact…also I’m an adult, you can’t tell me what to do.”

 

Izzy snorted,

 

“Mags? You spent three days rigging the different biofields to interact just right to produce a rainbow aurora borealis for pride week, you fiddled with the gravity in the fourth floor storage room just so you didn’t have to find a latter to get something off a high shelf and you turned the pond in the Saber toothed cats habitat to jello at the last holiday party…also you filled Zane’s office with holographic chickens.

 

Twice.

 

And once with real actual chickens.

 

You don’t get to play the adult, decorum card. You lost that one a long time ago.”

 

Magnus huffed with a sarcastic look, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“When?”

 

Alec chuckled, eyes kind of wide but amused, holding up a finger,

 

“I’m guessing somewhere between the jello and the chickens.”

 

Magnus glared playfully,

 

“Hey! You’re new…there’s a month long wait before you’re allowed to tease your coworkers.”

 

Alec smirked, tilting his head,

 

“So…that means you have to wait an entire month to start teasing me? Cause I could swear you already started.”

 

Magnus gave a surprised laugh, shaking his head, slipping closer,

 

“Oh sweetheart you have no idea.”

 

Alec chuckled, quirking his eyebrow, shifting closer

 

“I don’t huh?”

 

Magnus shook his head, eyes flashing bright,

 

Alec shrugged,

 

“Well…turnabout IS fair play, fair warning.”

 

Magnus gave a soft, excited little chuckle, slipping closer, eyes flickering over him,

 

“Looking forward to it gorgeous.”

 

“I’m not.” Izzy muttered,

 

_Oh crap…there are other people here._

_Including two of Alec’s siblings…_

_And another teenager…_

_Maybe reel it in a bit…at least till you can get the pretty solider boy alone…_

_Hmm…_

_Stop._

Magnus shook his head, giving a kind of sheepish smile and an apologetic shrug to the other three. Alec was back to blushing so apparently Magnus wasn’t the only one who got distracted.

 

“Sorry dears…you know how easily distracted I can be.” He glanced over at Alec, catching his eye, smiling,

 

“So, like I said next to the whole sibling coworker reveal the rest of the tour should seem far less insane. Where to next? Botany lab, ecology, Antiquities, zoology, government contracts, actual tech developments?

 

I know definitely not entomology.”

 

Alec chuckled, shrugging, glancing around at the others,

 

“I really don’t know where to begin, any ideas?”

 

Max nodded,

 

“Yeah, you should really check out the Ecology lab- doesn’t sound like it’d be too interesting but that’s where they perfect everything for the different habitats, you can literally experience every type of environment you can imagine, it’s really amazing- one of my favorite places in Oasis.

 

Oh! That and the aquarium in sub basement L, It’s unbelievable…and I know with this place that seems pretty par for the course but it really is.

 

Oh yeah! And t-”

 

“I’m sorry but the aquarium and the rest will have to wait, we have a bit of a situation.” Raphael interrupted, striding in Divya close behind,

 

Magnus was instantly alert, turning to the newcomers,

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Divya sighed, stepping forward, holding up a small, smooth violet device. She hit a few buttons a holograph appearing in the air above them.

 

“We have a report of an anomaly near Palm Springs, a place called Painted Canyon. It’s a bit isolated, hard to get to.”

 

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, nodding,

 

“Well that’s good at least, should be easy enough to cover. We’ll just go out, seal it up and we’re good.”

 

Raphael shook his head,

 

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple…”

 

Max blinked, glancing over at Alec,

 

“Did something come through?”

 

He shook his head,

 

“No, something went through. More specifically someone. We ran the preliminary scans and it looks like there was a disturbance from our side about two hours ago- all the readings show a human.”

 

Alec shook his head,

 

“So…wait…you’re saying someone’s lost in one of these anomaly things?”

 

Divya nodded,

 

“More specifically an anomaly to the mid cretaceous.”

 

Magnus gave a curt nod, beginning to move, 

 

“The stabilizer’s up and running again, have a couple of the lab techs meet me at my lab, we need to get it in the transport- as long as we can get there before it closes we’ll be good. Send me the readings I’ll go over them on the way and…oh…” He trailed off, gaze falling on Alec, who looked a bit shell shocked,

 

Divya sighed, glancing around at the others, sending a slightly apologetic shrug Alec’s way,

 

“I know it’s your first day but you’re kinda gonna have to hit the ground running. We have a person missing in a very dangerous time period, if we can’t get them out before the anomaly closes that’s it. I know it’s a lot b-”

 

Alec shook his head, before swallowing, taking a deep breath, giving a curt, determined nod,

 

“We really don’t have time for coddling here- it’s my first day but that doesn’t matter…I know nothing about this specific set of circumstances but I’ve been on plenty of rescue missions- I haven’t missed on one yet.

 

Magnus can fill me in on whatever I need to know on the way, whatever else I’ll pick up as I go. It’s my first day, I don’t want it to be this persons last.

 

Let’s go.”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Alright so the anomaly stabilizer works by supercharging the ions in the air produced by the anomaly. It creates a kind of polarizing magnetic field that keeps the anomaly open until we close it manually with the anomaly lock- it reverses the process, the polarizing field ceases and the sudden shock makes the anomaly destabilize and collapse on itself.

 

You actually don’t have to know this right off the bat but I figured it’d make it easier- also during destabilization the anomaly can become magnetized and has been known to pull some objects in…a few weapons, some change…on a couple occasions people’s house keys- not fun losing your keys 65 million years in the past. I mean most of us tend to prefer more modernized locks that you unlock with a thumbprint or what have you but some people do so cling to the classics…you kind of strike me as that type, figured I’d give you a heads up.

 

Now when you go through an anomaly it can be pretty disorienting. The best thing to do i…”

 

Alec swallowed nervously. He was trying to pay attention as he diligently checked his weapon, mentally going over the survival supplies in his pack for the fifth time, being sure they had whatever they may need.

 

I mean it seemed like they should- it’s far more than he usually had on a rescue mission…

 

_But then again how the hell does he know what they need for a mission in the freaking cretaceous? Yeah he’s been on rescue missions to some of the most remote locations in the world but there’s ‘remote’ then there’s about 65 million years before the start of the human race…_

_T-that?_

He doesn’t even really know how to process that. True he saw the saber toothed cats and Odette the dinosaur and heard about the creepy giant scorpion and all of that. Heard Magnus’s crazy stories about pirate ships and Vikings and almost getting eaten by a bear _(And A Spinosaurus, and a freaking sea monster)_ and yeah…they registered. But still hearing about something like that and actually going out and experiencing it are two VERY different things…and not gonna lie, the reality of it all is kinda settling in and he’s kinda freaking the hell out here- but he can’t let on. It is his first day but this is no longer about him.

 

Some poor innocent person is lost in the past- in one of the most dangerous time periods in history _(Okay he’s no expert but he HAS seen the Jurassic Park movies and he knows quite a few of the really dangerous things actually came from the cretaceous period..._

_Otherwise known as the place they’re going.)._

 

Some innocent civilian’s lost and needs help. First day jitters, craziness and surprises be damned, he cannot just ignore that. He has to adjust, and he has to do it quick. If anything at least he’ll really get a sense of the people he’s working with. There’s five of them going through the anomaly and another group ready to deal with anything that comes through.

 

The group going through is Alec, Magnus, Izzy, one of his seconds in command Bindy Yakira and a man named Luke Garroway who heads the logistics and cartography department. Alec hasn’t had much of a chance to talk to the last two but they seem to know what they’re doing in this situation _(Which is more than he can say about himself…he’s pretty much flying blind right now)._

 

His other second in command Valerie Chase was heading the team guarding the anomaly from this side. There was only one scientist in this group, a lab tech named Cheyenne- Magnus said she was one of the best lab techs they had. He was pretty confident she’d be able to handle any possible issues with the equipment.

 

The other four were members of his new security team- Ashanti, Sasha, Leo and Chantelle. He didn’t need to look at any credentials to know all of them had fairly extensive military training, there’s some things that after the career he had you can tell nearly on sight. They’re all just going about their business like this is routine. I mean they’re a bit tense so far as the missing person thing goes but the rest of it they seem totally relaxed. It’s both comforting and disconcerting. Will he get to that point? A point when leaping through holes in time is like getting your coffee or clocking in, just another part of the day?

 

 Everyone but him clearly have a lot of experience in this- Magnus and Izzy are alternating filling him in on any information he needs to know for the mission but by this point it almost just seems like white noise. It’s so much to take in.

 

 

 He’ll just have to catch up on the fly- thankfully he has a knack for that…and he has a military expert, a mad scientist and his brilliantly terrifying sister as support on this…and wow knowing that his sister’s been doing this for about three years is something he’s trying to willfully avoid focusing on as he really has enough to panic about right now. 

 

Alec took a deep breath, shaking himself out of his spiraling thoughts, looking back at Magnus- who was still rattling right on along,

 

“And if you don’t remember anything else, just remember that and you’ll be fine.”

 

_Ah crap…_

Alec swallowed, shifting a bit closer,

 

“Umm…”

 

Magnus quirked his eyebrow with a bit of an impish smirk,

 

“You did not hear a word I said…did you?”

 

Alec shrugged sheepishly, faintly shaking his head,

 

“Sorry…I didn’t mean to zone out it’s j-”

 

Magnus chuckled, shaking his head, reaching over, squeezing his shoulder,

 

“It’s quite alright darling- I actually realized it a while ago…I’ve been recapping movies for the last five minutes.”

 

Alec blinked, shaking his head faintly in disbelief.

 

“Why would-”

 

He laughed, waving him off,

 

“Sorry; I do that when I think people have tuned out, just to see how long it takes them to figure it out. I was just having a bit of fun…it helps sometimes. Relax darling, no one’s expecting you to become an expert on this in a forty minute trip, it’s an unbelievable amount. Just stick with the rest of us, you’ll be fine. Bindy is one of the best, Luke’s an expert at strategizing, I am the closest thing to an expert there is on the anomalies, and Izzy is…well…Izzy ranges from terrifyingly skilled to just outright terrifying.

 

We’ll be there in less than five minutes and the sensors haven’t showed any fluctuations in the anomaly, so we’re good…we really are.

 

We have this.

 

I know it’s a lot, and it’s one hell of an initiation for your first day, but may as well know what you’re getting into right from the get go. Try not to focus on the crazy- this is a rescue mission. There’s someone lost and they need our help. Regardless of all the other trappings or complications this is a rescue mission- you said yourself, you’ve been on dozens…we really haven’t- I mean we’ve have a few but nowhere near the amount you have, we need your expertise here.

 

The rest of us can deal with the crazy, you focus on the rescue…

 

Okay?”

 

Alec swallowed, taking a couple deep breaths, nodding,

 

“Okay.”

 

Magnus smiled, squeezing his arm once more.

 

“Good…because we’re here.”

 

Alec blinked, looking in surprise out the door of the transport that just opened before freezing.

 

_Oooh…Woah…_

They’d landed at the base of the canyon, there was barely enough room for the transport. He’s actually surprised he didn’t hear the sides scraping the edges...yeah he’d call this pretty inaccessible alright. The area was ruggedly beautiful; the different layers of rock and limestone making it quite obvious how painted canyon got its name.

 

It really was striking, but that is not what caught his attention.

 

About fifty feet in front of the transport there was a shimmering, near blindingly white void encircled by prismatic, glistening fractals that nearly looked like broken shards of stained glass. It was oddly beautiful but at the same time mind numbingly terrifying.

 

T-this was literally a hole in the fabric of time…the reality of that was near maddening. And yeah he’s heard of them, has been hearing of them for the better part of the day but…but actually seeing it… ** _seeing_** the reality of it?

 

_It was just…_

_Wow…_

He startled faintly at a hand on his shoulder, head whipping around. Izzy gave him a gentle smile, squeezing once more. Glancing around he realized they were the only ones still left in the transport.

 

“It really is something else isn’t it? Sorry, Mags had to kind of rush, the edges of the anomaly were going violet- usually that means it’s getting ready for a flux, they’re pretty standard but they can trigger a collapse fairly quickly, seems like we got here just in time. Just fair warning; for all the fun, carefree, flirtatious, playfulness the man can get pretty intense. When he gets that way you can really see the similarities between him and Raph. It kinda takes some getting used to; I’m sure after a little adjustment you’ll be okay with it.”

 

Alec blinked, glancing out the door at the others milling about. Magnus was out front and center practically barking orders, directing the soldiers where to best set up the anomaly stabilizer, getting the rest of the equipment in order and everyone into position. They were practically running trying to keep up with the orders, Magnus’s movements, tone and words were sharp, strong and determined- the man clearly knew what he was doing.

 

Alec swallowed yet again, suddenly feeling quite a bit warmer, pulse pick up more than a few tics.

 

_And again…_

**_Woah…_ **

****

He tried for a dismissive shrug but missed by quite a bit, brushing his hair back,

 

“U-um…yeah…no adjustment needed, I-I’m good with it.”

 

Izzy blinked, groaning, rolling her eyes,

 

“Ugh…I was perfectly happy not knowing that about you. Starting to realize there’s a few drawbacks of working together.”

 

Alec blushed faintly, shaking his head, beginning for the door,

 

“I don’t know what you mean…we better catch up with the others, no time to waste…it is a rescue mission after all.”

 

Izzy smirked, falling into step beside him,

 

“Yeah, probably a good idea. REALLY don’t think I want to see how you react to him using that tone on _you_ …”

 

Alec picked up the pace, trying to hide the blush now creeping all the way up to his ears.

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, poor Alec, he’s in so far over his head…but I think he’s kinda okay with that.
> 
> **_ New Names/Characters _ **
> 
> **_Cheyenne-_** Alien Speaker
> 
>  ** _Ashanti-_** Aggressive or warlike
> 
>  ** _Sasha-_** Protector of Humanity (FYI this character is a male- I really love this name for a guy)
> 
>  ** _Leo-_** Like a Lion
> 
>  ** _Chantelle-_** Tough like a stone
> 
> So the security team and such- smaller parts kinda the extra/fill in characters are actually some of the names that I have picked out for The Brooklyn Vampire Clan in the SEM verse…probably none of them will have huge parts but I like being able to flesh them out a bit…this’ll probably be a running theme throughout the verses- this way I don’t have to keep coming up with new filler characters and I can start filling them in (I mentioned there were ‘just over 30 members’ of the vampire clan so that’s how many I have picked out.)
> 
> Some might end up developing into more fleshed out OC’s at some point…that’s not necessarily planned but well…when has that ever stopped me lol?
> 
>  
> 
> _You know the usual will proof at work hope it’s okay, this is just the 1 st half._
> 
> _Now we’re really gonna get to the fun stuff!_
> 
>  
> 
>  


	5. Into The Void…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #  _❤❤Chapter Complete!!_ _❤❤_

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Okay everybody fan out! Bindy? We’re breaching in ten, you’re our front line- we have no way of knowing what’s waiting for us on that side- when we hit the ground be ready.

 

Got it?”

 

She gave a slight laugh, quirking her eyebrow challengingly, a dangerous near predatory glint flickering in her glittering black eyes,

 

“Mags it’s me you’re talking to. I’m _always_ ready.”

 

Magnus huffed out a laugh, holding his hands up placatingly moving on down the line. Alec got a bit of a chill at that look…he knew that look. Over the years his jobs had put him in touch with some very dangerous people, sometimes working more often than not working with them, sometimes against…

 

That look was unmistakable.

 

He’s really not sure how he ended up with a trained killer as one of his second in commands but after this whole rescue civilian trapped 65 Million years in the past thing he was probably gonna have a few questions about that.

 

He shook that off, tuning back into Magnus’s orders, trying to keep his focus…

 

_Not like that was exactly a hardship…_

 

 “- Chy? Run any and all equipment checks- everything should be good but ‘should’ isn’t good enough. You’re heading the equipment while we’re on the other side- if there’s something we need to watch for I want to know now not as I’m 65 million years in the past trying to outrun a T-rex while attempting to maneuver a scared, confused civilian through a techno colored hole in the fabric of time…any possible technical issues we need to know now.

 

You have ten minutes.”

 

The lab tech hopped to attention, tucking a couple lilac curls behind her ear, giving a quick, determined nod, turning, hitting a few buttons on a small device. A sleek black stand slipped silently from the bottom, the device flattening and widening resembling a keyboard. Cheyenne instantly began typing away. The device glimmered, producing a hologram of what looked like multiple computer screens. She tilted her head, sharp grayish blue eyes slipping over the information, fingers flying over the keyboard,

 

Magnus nodded, turning,

 

“Luke? Get initial readings-we’re going through in ten, I want to know where abouts we are gonna land and any possible hazards we may encounter.

 

Val? You’re on point here. I need you to keep an eye on the sensor- it’ll tell you when something’s coming through and I know generally you guys shoot to kill at an unexpected breach but you have to use tact here. We’ll call ahead when we’re getting ready to come back through but we **_do_** have a civilian lost in there. It’s possible they’ll find their way back to the anomaly before we find them. The last thing we want is for them to find their way home only to end up getting shot just as they make it to safty…put the itchy trigger fingers away.

****

Actually on this one I’d prefer it if you’d stick to the suppression rounds if possible. I know it’s far more risky but I think in these circumstances it’s more than worth the risk. Live rounds should be your absolute last resort.

 

Leo? I need you to have the med site set up here ASAP. This person’s been lost in the past for nearly three hours now- a lot can happen in that time. In addition to that we know nothing about their current health or any possible medical conditions. If they were out here odds are they’re in fairly decent shape- probably hiking or the like as I cannot think of another reason for someone to be out somewhere so remote but we don’t know and we need to be ready for anything.

 

 Iz will be with us and with her med pack and training she’s more than capable of any quick fix efforts to get them stable and through the anomaly however we don’t want to have to move them any further than necessary until we know they are alright.

 

The Tact Tent can be set up for a clean room- there’s biocleansers and antimicrobial scanners in the transport. Use them…All of them. There’s the heavy duty med kit there as well- it has surgical tools, sedatives, numbing agents, an entire assortment of braces, stabilizers and bone setting/temporary meshing agents, epi-pens, a full spectrum inoculation kit, two high capacity bio field generators and a hand held x-ray scanner.

 

I expect it set up within the hour, no excuses.

 

Iz? Yeah I know you’re ready- nuff said…moving on,

 

Now as for _you_ Sasha-”

 

Alec swallowed, shaking his head again…

 

**_Damn…_ **

****

_Okay get it together dude…_

_Yes, the guy’s hot._

_And yes, the whole ridiculously pretty, flirty guy suddenly going all strong, assertive, take charge thing is sexy as hell…_

_Like unbearably sexy…_

_Especially wit-_

_No. Stop._

_Time and place Alec._

You are less than five hours into your first day on a job and literally minutes away from leaping through a hole in time to try to track down and rescue a civilian lost 65 Million years in the past with a map expert, someone he’s fairly certain is a former _(Hopefully)_ government assassin, and his sister who now looks like she’s cosplaying as Lara Croft Tomb Raider, all of which are apparently being led by what is essentially a mad scientist.

 

This is SO not the time to be fantasizing about said mad scientist…

 

No matter how fantasy worthy he may be…

 

And yeah…he **_totally_** is…

 

But again…

 

Time and Place.

 

Alec took another deep breath, shaking himself out of that, taking a hesitant step forward,

 

“So is there anything I should know? I mean I know you can’t fill me in on everything right this second but is there anything specific I need to know before randomly jumping through a hole in time…

 

And wow that’s sounds insane.”

 

Magnus almost seemed to startle, a near guilty look crossing over his expression, blinking a couple times seemingly just now realizing he was there.

 

“Oh…Alec. I know you’re hired as head of security b-”

 

Alec waved him off,

 

“Magnus it’s fine. I’m new here- I’ve been at this job for a matter of hours. I am completely flying blind. I’m not going on some macho power trip or whatever. I’m good with you all taking the lead- clearly you know what you’re doing…I don’t.

 

My focus is the rescue mission- that is also the only thing I have any idea about whatsoever. My job is to find the civilian and keep you alive.

 

You guys are in charge- I’m just back up…I know that.

 

So like I said is there anything I need to know before we jump through a hole in time to track down the world’s most lost hiker?”

 

Magnus gave a surprised laugh, relaxing a bit, glancing at the others shaking his head.

 

“Nothing really. When we crossover just stay close and follow our lead. Try to put the ‘time travel thing’ out of your head and just focus on the missing person rescue, that’s your area- the rest is all us. As I said Bindy’s on point- I know you’re head of security but she’s been with us for over two years now- she has this.”

 

Alec nodded faintly, casting a slightly curious glance over at Bindy. She flashed a cheeky smirk and playful wink. Alec blinked in surprise, swallowing, taking a slight step away, nodding quickly,

 

“Umm…yeah seems like it. So that stabilizer did a weird flashing thing and no one’s panicking, I’m guessing that means it did what it’s supposed to do, you gave everyone their assignments, it seems like everything’s ready to go on this end- right Cheyenne? Valarie?” He paused, glancing from the tech over to his second-second in command,

 

Cheyenne glanced up, flashing a bright smile and quick thumbs up. Valarie shrugged, giving a barely there smirk- the closest thing to a smile he saw from the intimidating blonde woman from the moment he’d entered the facility- he’s counting it as an affirmative. Alec nodded back shifting back to Magnus,

 

“Alright well, it seems like everything’s in place, everyone but me knows what the hell they’re doing and I’m good with learning on the fly so I think we’re good…or at least not getting any more ready…

 

And this civilian isn’t getting any less lost in time and that isn’t going to seem any less crazy to me anytime in the near future…so we’re ready, right?” he finished glancing around at the others.

 

Magnus gave an impressed smile and nod, glancing from Alec over the assorted group, everyone else moving into position falling into place like the parts of a well oiled machine. Magnus gave one more nod, shifting back to Alec, slipping closer to his side, flashing a quick, encouraging smile. Izzy moved to his other side, hoisting her pack, shifting it onto her shoulder.

 

The group staying behind stepped back a bit, falling into position. Luke fell in next to Izzy, Bindy slipped over, moving ahead of them, pulling out some odd looking weapon, grip calm, cool and relaxed, taking a deep breath, glancing over at Magnus flashing a quick, dangerous smile and near imperceptible nod.

 

Magnus smirked, nodding back, glancing over at Alec, quirking his eyebrow, a bright electric spark in his beautifully deep brown eyes,

 

 “Yes we are…”

 

The group begin to move, Bindy leaping through, Luke and Izzy close behind, Alec and Magnus moving even closer. Alec felt his heart rate pick up, taking a few hesitant steps towards the void, feeling a near overwhelming wave of energy, a bit of a prickle like standing out in the middle of a lightning storm. He swallowed, glancing over, catching sight of Magnus next to him, barely a foot away, his gaze locked with Alec’s.

 

Alec felt an electric buzz dancing over his skin, breath catching, a giddy excited thrill shooting clear through him. He tried to tell himself it was just the whole standing in front of a rip in the very fabric of time thing…not that thrilling smirk or that pretty, dangerous spark flashing in those impossibly warm, deep brown eyes,

 

Magnus reached over, catching his hand, squeezing, pulling Alec close to his side. Alec felt the electric buzz intensify to near dizzying levels, feeling lightheaded, almost intoxicated…

 

Magnus glanced up, meeting his eyes, shifting closer,

 

“Hold on tight gorgeous. The first couple trips can be a bit disorientating, but don’t worry…I’ve got you.”

 

Alec swallowed, slipping his arm around Magnus’s waist, tugging him a bit closer,

 

“Yes…yes you do…”

 

Magnus’s eyes sparked brighter shifting in closer for a moment, giving a brilliant, slightly reckless laugh. Alec took one last deep breath in the year 2050, grip on Magnus tightening, turning before lunging forward, the pair leaping into the swirling, dizzying void.

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

_Oh damn that was crazy…he did NOT like that…_

_What the Hell?!_

Alec gasped, startling at the odd, spine tingling, jarring sensation that surged over his entire body. It almost felt like he was being electrocuted but there was no pain, no shock; just an overwhelming sensation that his entire body was being hit by something that it really shouldn’t. Completely bombarded by something dangerous and powerful, something wild and uncomprehendible that no human could ever really, truly understand. Something it was not designed to withstand, that it had no business being anywhere near.

 

_Kinda stood to reason…_

The human body wasn’t really made to be tossed haphazardly through incomprehensible rips in the very fabric of existence…

 

_Still a little heads up would’ve been nice._

He tensed, shifting on reflex, hitting the ground at just the right angle to minimize shock and take the brunt of the impact. He rolled, shifting again into a protective crouch, automatically moving to shield the body beneath him, the odd prickly, electric sensation setting his instincts on edge, instantly on alert for any threats. He chanced a glance around, trying his best to prepare himself for T-rex, raptors, winged hell beasts and whatever other vicious monsters and untold living nightmares were lurking just beyond the dizzying void in time, waiting to make them their next meal.

 

He blinked…

 

And blinked again…

 

_Huh…_

_Well…that’s a bit anticlimactic._

Instead of the roaring creatures, slashing claws and sharp, deadly fangs he was envisioning tumbling into the freaking **_Cretaceous_** all he saw was a weird, somewhat annoyed looking little possum-gerbil type thing with a fluffy tail, a smattering of cheery wild flowers and scrub brush, a bunch of really odd, scraggily looking he-hesitated-to-call-them-trees, a dusky bluish green lizard with black stripes and goggly orange eyes, and a map expert, a former assassin and his sister standing around looking down at him with near identical amused smirks and quirked eyebrows.

 

Alec looked up at them in confusion. Izzy raised her other brow expectantly, Alec tilted his head,

 

“What?”

 

All three of them chuckled. Bindy shook her head, giving a teasingly playful smirk, casually spinning the weapon she’s holding before tucking it back in her holster,

 

“Well on the plus side it’s good to see you’re taking so well to your new position as head of security- very ‘secure’ looking…I approve. However unless that fluffy little Alphadon there is particularly aggressive I don’t think that level of protectiveness is _quite_ warranted.”

 

Alec blinked in confusion,

 

“Hey, he’s not telling you how to do your job, butt out Bindy.”

 

Alec startled at the voice directly beneath him, glancing down, catching sight of the speaker.

 

_Oh…_

_Yeah…umm…_

Alec felt his cheeks warming in a way that had nothing to do with the blazing sun beating down on them…

 

“Umm…H-hey Magnus…”

 

Magnus chuckled softly, his rich, dizzyingly deep brown eyes sparkling, settling back a bit more comfortably on the ground. He stretched, folding one arm under his head lifting himself just a tiny bit closer to Alec, other hand slipping over, idly running up and down Alec’s arm, absently drawing little patterns on his skin. Magnus made a soft, near purr like sound that caused Alec’s breath to catch and his head to spin. His eyes brightened all the more, sharp, clever gaze catching Alec’s reaction, tilting his head, giving an annoyingly appealing quirk of his eyebrow and flirtatious little smirk,

 

“Hello darling…”

 

Alec blushed clear to his ears, laughing nervously,

 

“Uh…s-sorry I…”

 

Magnus gave a sultry little chuckle, shaking his head, shrugging carelessly,

 

“Sweetheart no complaints here...spectacular job. I for one feel **_very_** secure. And I am SO done arguing against the whole personal security thing…you are absolutely right. I most definitely need security and monitoring…very close monitoring. Actually you should probably move a bit closer, I don’t entirely trust that lizard…it looks shifty, could be gearing up for an attack.”

 

Alec glanced over at said ‘shifty’ lizard. It startled, making a little chirp like noise before scampering off into the scrub brush. Alec shifted his gaze back to Magnus, quirked his eyebrow,

 

He gave a sight shrug and an impish grin,

 

Alec huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes exasperatedly, beginning to pull away. Magnus made a slight noise, shaking his head, catching Alec’s arm, tugging him back, hand lingering, squeezing his bicep before sliding slowly down Alec’s arm. He sighed faintly, eyes appreciatively traveling over Alec’s arms before blinking, looking up at Alec, giving a blatantly phony worried look; all big, wide eyes and soft, pouting lips.

 

_It was not in any way adorable…_

_Or worryingly distracting…_

_Or sexy as hell…_

_Nope…_

_Not at all…_

_…._

_…_

_.._

_._

_(He can only hope that pitiful, verging-on-desperate whimpering sound was just in his head)_

“But Alec, it may be going to get backup! I think you should probably stay right here…you know, just to be safe.”

 

_Oh my god. Forget about time travel, supervillian bosses and terrifying creatures from the past. This annoyingly pretty, absolutely ridiculous, brilliant, stupidly brave, bat crap crazy, real live actual honest to god mad scientist was gonna be his undoing he just knows it…_

_Hell if it wouldn’t be **totally** worth it._

_Though it might be a good idea to wait till they don’t have an audience…especially one that includes his sister…_

_Well…there’s a mood killer…_

Alec stilled Magnus’s hand, tugging it off his arm, catching briefly, squeezing, meeting Magnus’s gaze for a moment, widening his eyes faintly, gaze flickering from Magnus over towards their audience before shifting back, quirking his eyebrow pointedly. Magnus gave a slightly flippant shrug, trying to tug him back in, again, this time even closer. Alec chuckled, rolling not only his eyes but his whole head. He shifted, pulling himself back to his feet. Magnus huffed, giving a false glare, pouting even more exaggeratedly.

 

Alec chuckled, shaking his head faintly before reaching down holding out his hand to help Magnus up. He pouted for a second before sighing, reaching up taking Alec’s hand. Alec tugged him to his feet, kind of steadying him with his free hand lightly trailing down his arm. Magnus slipped closer, still idly playing with the fingers of his other hand.

 

 “You know this is really counterproductive…when the lizard returns with its backup you’re just going to have to cover me again. I was just trying to save a step.”

 

Alec laughed brightly shaking his head, meeting Magnus’s gaze with a brilliant smile and playful glare, subconsciously tugging him a bit closer

 

 “You are absolutely ridiculous…and I thought we agreed no teasing for a month?”

 

Magnus shook his head,

 

“I never agreed to that…I said YOU couldn’t tease ME for a month.”

 

Alec quirked his eyebrow,

 

“And what I said to THAT is turnabout’s fair play…which it is and I can _absolutely_ give as good as I get so you really should keep that in mind.”

 

Magnus’s eyes sparked bright, leaning in a bit, making that soft, near purr like hum type sound looking up at Alec through his lashes,

 

“Mmm…Oh I most definitely will sweetheart…in fact I am quite looking forward to it.”

 

Alec gulped, feeling a bit breathless and dizzy, just barely managing to keep the whimper in…he didn’t have high hopes for the next one though. He took a slightly gasping breath, trying to get his mind off of… _well… **that**_ …and back to like literally anything else. He shook his head, trying for a disbelieving laugh, it came out kinda high and a bit too close to a giggle for his liking but it wasn’t the most embarrassing sound he could’ve made at least.

 

He smiled meeting Magnus’s eyes, going for casually annoyed,

 

“You know you could’ve given me a heads up! I wasn’t expecting that- whatever the hell it is feeling. It threw me, I had no idea it’d feel like that, totally caught me off guard. If I’m surprised or startled my instincts kick in and I just go on reflex.”

 

Magnus tilted his head contemplatingly,

 

“I know I should have, I just have no idea how to actually describe it. And…just to clarify… ** _Anytime_** you’re surprised or startled, huh? Totally unrelated but remind me to take you on a tour of the research and development department when we get back…specifically the experimental testing room…”

 

Alec chuckled, rolling his eyes,

 

“Yeah we’ll that’s g-”

 

“Gonna have to wait till we find this Simon Lewis guy and get him back to UC Santa Barbra where he belongs.”

 

They both startle at Izzy’s words, shaking their heads, trying to clear…well…that… making their way over to where the other three are standing about forty feet away. Magnus blinked, tilting his head,

 

“What h-”

 

Izzy smirked holding up a UCSB ID card on a decorative lanyard, waving it back and forth.

 

“Yeah it was getting kinda awkward over there, we kinda just decided to wander away, look for evidence and maybe whistle loudly to block out any unwanted sounds that might travel our way.”

 

Alec flushed, shaking his head,

 

“W-what I d-”

 

She rolled her eyes,

 

“Oh please, don’t even try that big bro. I have no idea how you made it in so many clandestine organizations; you have the worst poker face I have ever seen…like seriously Max’s is better than yours.”

 

Alec glared,

 

“Oh I’m not that bad a-”

 

Magnus chuckled, slipping closer, squeezing his arm apologetically,

 

“Actually gorgeous I’m with Izzy on this one, but that’s rather irrelevant at the moment.” He reached over plucking the ID out of Izzy’s hand examining it, tilting his head, giving a slight chuckle,

 

“Aww…he’s adorable.”

 

Alec leaned closer, looking over the picture. He had to bite off a bit of a laugh himself, shaking his head.

 

_Wow…and he thought his collage ID holoclip was awkward._

 The guy in the little clip really was adorable- that was about the only way to describe him. He seemed to be a bright, cheery, excited ball of energy. It seemed like he was slightly bouncing on his heels, as if he just couldn’t seem to sit still. In the clip he kinda fidgeted, shifting before raising his hand, giving an animated, endearing, slightly dorky wave. He had kind of unruly lighter brown hair that was somewhat given to curl, big, wide, worryingly innocent looking golden brown eyes, and a bright, beaming smile complete with dimples.

 

The guy vaguely reminded Alec of a puppy masquerading as a university student…

 

_Oooh…crap…._

_This was SO not good._

_THIS is the guy lost in the freaking **Cretaceous?**_

_This kid didn’t look like he could handle being lost at freaking Disneyland!_

Alec shook his head, looking over at the others, humor quickly giving way to the gravity of the situation.

 

“Guys, we have got to find this kid ASAP. With this terrain and this location I was expecting a seasoned outdoorsmen or a military expert. Even with that this situation would be dire. This kid looks like the last ‘strenuous hike’ he took was around Comic Con.”

 

The other’s nodded, Izzy shrugging faintly,

 

“That’s what I was thinking too, but we might be underestimating the guy.” She shifted pointing off about forty feet to their right at a glimmering silver wrist band hanging on a branch before trailing further off, a similar glimmer catching their eyes on yet another tree further down.

 

“Looks like he was smart enough to leave a trail, that’s something. Also if he was smart enough to do that he could have easily went back through the anomaly. Clearly he’s exploring, and there’s something else. These bands are pretty popular but usually with far younger kids- maybe pre-teen if that?

 

Fashion challenged or not no University Student is gonna be wearing them, and going by the picture jewelry doesn’t really seem like his thing. However they are really cheap, really eye catching and they come in packs of over two hundred.

 

It’s possible he has a sibling or the like who he was getting them for but that would be awful coincidental. To me this seems deliberate. I’m thinking he got them specifically for use as markers.”

 

Alec blinked in surprise, Magnus nodded, eyes sharp and focused, flipping over the ID examining it with interest.

 

“Hmm…he has to be extremely intelligent, he has chips for accessing the robotics, engineering, advanced programming, and applied physics departments, as well as history and folklore, mythology, and…umm…Hypothetical Beings Physiology And Psychology- that’s the department where they theorize about Aliens, bigfoot and other heretofore unknown/unproven creatures…

 

Well…that is quite the array of interests, isn’t it?”

 

The other’s looked around, kind of thrown. Luke tilted his head, looking around.

 

“Okay so…He’s a bit of a nerd, varied interests and heavily influenced by scifi- He’s wearing a Doctor Who shirt and the Lanyard has little Wookies on it…not too hard to put together. So, Sci-fi guy stumbles across a hole in time, yeah, he’s going through that answers one question, why. But it also raises yet another question. Why specifically was he out here in the first place? It seems pretty unlikely he just happened to stumble onto it. So what was he doing?”

 

Bindy nodded, sharp black eyes shifting over the picture calculatingly,

 

“He definitely doesn’t look like the type to be hiking here that’s for sure, and that’s about the only reason I can think of for someone to come out here...”

 

The other’s looked around, shrugging faintly, kind of at a loss, before Magnus paused, tilting his head,

 

“Unless he knew the Anomaly was going to be here.”

 

Alec startled, looking over at him,

 

“How would he know that?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“I do not know but it is the only logical reason I can think of for this particular person to be in this particular location. Bindy’s right, He does not seem the hiking type…honestly with that many advanced academic interests I’d say it’s rare he ever leaves the University. The only reason I can think of for someone like that to come all the way out here is if they were looking for something. He had the bands, he had the forethought to mark his way. He came prepared for this.”

 

Alec glanced at the shimmering silver band on the branch, looking over, following the trail of similar shimmering silver bands catching in the sunlight, shaking his head faintly.

 

“So it would seem. But once again, how?”

 

Magnus shrugged,

 

“I don’t know. I suppose that is a question we can ask when we find him.” He glanced back down at the ID, watching the little holoclip, turning it over, running over the litany of seemingly random, vastly diversified fields of study,

 

“I for one am quite curious to meet this ‘Simon Lewis’.”

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> This is an Alphadon…(I know it doesn’t have a fluffy tail- we’ll say that’s a specific variety…)
> 
> [ ](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/winx-club-and-freinds-adventures/images/0/02/Alphadon.png/revision/latest?cb=20140118183406)
> 
>  
> 
> Kay so I had thought of having it jump straight into dino action and craziness but then I sorta got distracted by the Malec fluff/flirting at the beginning…I’d say sorry…but I’m totally not.
> 
> We’re into the adventure part of the story now, this’ll be fun.
> 
> (BTW did anyone know the ‘world’s most lost hiker’ was gonna be Simon?
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways what do you guys think so far?


	6. A Long Time Ago in a…well, you know the rest…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> #  _❤❤_ _Chapter Complete!!❤❤_
> 
> Kay so this chapter is just gonna be one part…Let’s face it this story is gonna be 12 chapters we still have more than enough space for everything I want and then some…
> 
> Besides, this way we get moving a bit faster.
> 
> I love this Simon already…

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

## Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon-Simon

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Hmm…so far on this trip through gateway PC4650 we have yet to see anything overly threatening which is…well…great…really as I’d really prefer not to die 65 million years before I’d technically be born- that just seems impossibly confusing.

 

I have seen some pretty big tracks though and there are definite signs of animals nearby recently so I’m keeping vigilant. I’m hoping the polydextrose enzyme masking spray (PDEZ for short) works as well with the actual creatures here as it did with their modern day counterparts at the Santa Barbra zoo.

 

 

Tests seemed perfectly on track. It appeared to cover the human/prey type scent completely…It seemed quite effective. Even better than I intended actually. They didn’t really seem to register you as there at all, which helps…if they don’t know you’re there they can’t try to eat you. As an added bonus it seemed to have a calming/relaxing effect which was unforeseen but really helpful- doesn’t register you as food AND got them to chill…definitely useful…wonder if it’d work with the jackasses on campus?

 

Probably not as they don’t find prey by scent…and quite frankly they’re probably less evolved…Still could be worth a shot.

 

So far all the tests have been successful. It worked with the sharks at the aquarium- they didn’t even seem to sense the PDEZ coated fish in the water- and another bonus it seems to be water proof for upwards of three hours, so that’s awesome. More positive results with the large cats and the bears…

 

It seemed to work with the reptiles as well, though I didn’t get to test nearly as much as I’d like there. Which kinda sucked as that was the one I was most concerned about seeing as that’s the largest threat I’m most likely to encounter here in the Cretaceous…but it appeared effective.

 

Well…at least it did until I got kicked out anyways…” He grumbled,

 

Simon scoffed, rolling his eyes, stumbling faintly, catching himself on a tree branch. Pausing he glanced over the tree curiously, giving a slight hum. Reaching into his pocket to retrieve his molecular scanner, swiping it over the tree, taking a few readings and samples, documenting a little flitting bug on a branch and the deep claw gauges in the bark before slipping the device back in his pocket, continuing on, picking his way through the canyon, giving a flippant wave starting right back up again,

 

“Can’t believe they thought I was there trying to steal their Komodo Dragons! I mean yeah, alright hopping the fence may have been a bit foolish but like really? Stealing them is more likely than just ‘I really need an A on my biology report’ or ‘I thought it’d be an awesome holograb petting one’?

 

I can’t be the only college age dude to try that…

 

_I’ve MET the frat house idiots._

No way none of them have tried something like that.

 

Hell, I was in the nurses’ office last year when Greg was getting antibiotics for the peacock bites he got when they tried to steal the mascot for Summerville State before the big game.

 

And anyways how would I even steal a freaking Komodo Dragon?

 

Like, seriously! I’m five ten and a hundred and forty pounds soaking wet. What am I gonna do? Hide a pissed off, carnivorous, ten foot, hundred and eighty pound lizard under my shirt? Put it on a leash and say it’s a dog with a _really_ weird skin condition? Just say hell with it and ride the damn thing out?

 

How do you steal a ten foot lizard? I mean…i-is that like, a thing that happens?

 

I-well I guess they wouldn’t worry about it if it wasn’t a possibility. I mean I know there are like poachers or exotic animal brokers or whatever and there are idiots who think it’s cool to have a wild animal as a pet…and even bigger idiots who think parts of said wild animals could have curative properties or whatever…

 

But still what kind of wild animal broker/poacher wears a ‘Come to the dork side we have cookies’ shirt and Dr. Who tennis shoes?

 

And anyw-”

 

He’s cut off by an aggravated whirling, trilling sound and a series of rapid beeping, clicking, booping chatter,

 

Simon glanced over towards the scuttling currently neon yellow metallic spider/land octopus- Well, land tredectipod as it had thirteen legs as opposed to eight- clambering up one of the straggly trees along their path. It reached up with one of the long, nimble front appendages, lightly plucking one of the silver Glambands from the carrier on its back, placing it on a high, easily visible branch in the tree before scampering to the end of its perch, extending the little glider flaps on each leg, floating gently to the ground, speeding up ahead of him the second the tips of the legs hit the ground, flashing from yellow to green than orange then back again still making the annoyed, trilling booping sound,

 

Simon huffed, rolling his eyes, giving a flippant wave,

 

“Alright, alright Becks, no need for the snapping and psychedelic lightshow. I know, no tangents…but you’re just being snippy. That wasn’t even a tangent; it was just a slightly wandering thought…

 

Besides even if it was a bit of a tangent what’s it matter? We’re 65 million years in the past, not like there’s anything else to listen to…and I DID build you, maybe don’t be quite so snippy just from one little wandering thought…those wandering thoughts are where the idea for you came from in the first place.”

 

He’s met with more beeping and whirling, along with a burst of metallic clicks, color glimmering back to day glow orange,

 

Simon scoffed,

 

“Oh it was too a ‘little’ wandering thought! I wasn’t talking that long.”

Simon’s scoff is echoed, the mimicked scoff somehow even more sarcastic than his original, color flickering blue-green, a flashing projection of a ten minute hourglass spinning,

 

Simon rolled his eyes, shaking his head,

 

 _“It was nowhere near ten minutes!_ There’s no way.”

 

Three beeps, flickering to lime green and a projected timer flashing above Becks, beginning to tic off,

 

_“Can’t believe they thought I was there trying to steal their Komodo Dragons! I mean yeah, alright hopping the fence may have been a bit foolish b-”_

Simon quirked his eyebrow,

 

You know I can disable you’re mimicry ability right?”

 

Metallic clicks and whirling, shift to neon purple and giving a flippant little gesture with one of the front appendages that is annoyingly human,

 

 Simon huffed in annoyance, glaring, idly wondering if it’d be considered cruel to trip a tredectipod…even an obnoxiously snarky Tredectipod.

 

I mean it’s not ‘cruel’ to unplug the toaster with a bit more force than is strictly necessary when you forget it’s going and the ding startles you… right?

 

Right…though he’s never really like tripping the toaster…which probably had something to do with the fact that to his recollection the toaster also never flipped him off…so there is that.

 

And it didn’t complain when he just made a tiny bit of conversation to fill the silence and pass the time…well, not that he really made a point of having conversations with the toaster.

 

Still Becks was a fair bit more advanced than the toaster.

 

Probably quite a bit more than it should be...at least from a legal type standpoint.

 

Okay so, yeah the way he configured Becks programming did kinda drift pretty firmly into- or blow straight past- the autonomous artificial intelligence baseline (Which wasn’t strictly speaking totally like, _legal_ ,) but you know…can’t make breakthroughs in science if you’re not willing to bend the rules a bit.

 

He knew why the rule was there- though he personally thought it was just an overreaction to one _(or twelve)_ too many Terminator movies/TV shows, late night scifi Asimov’s law’s run amok movie marathon type deals, but still he knew.

 

Even so Becks wasn’t that kind of robot. He wasn’t evil- just kinda snarky and sassy. Becks was less an evil Brainiac and more a snarky cephalopod like color changing C3PO. He doubts a robot bent on world domination would waste so much of its time snarking about his taste in clothes and inability to shut up.

 

Frankly sometimes after his morning scavenger hunt to find where the obnoxious little brat hid his favorite shirt/shoes/hat/shoes/jacket/shoes/watch/shoes **_again_** _(Damnit Becks they’re NOT that bad- the orange is fun)_ he might actually prefer the Brainiac type robot.

 

And so help him if he has to climb into the recycle bin under his window one more time to get those shoes back next time Becks is down for maintenance he’s reconfiguring it’s projector so the colors are in a plaid/polka dot pattern and attaching little yoda ears.

 

_See if it’s so fashion critical then…_

_Aaand…he is mentally arguing with his robot about fashion…_

 

Okay maybe focus just a bit. You jumped through a gateway in time and are exploring the actual Cretaceous. Getting a chance to see and examine plants and creatures that have been extinct for millions of years. You’ve been tracking, logging, cataloging and remotely exploring these things for nearly a year…

 

This is your first ever actual physical trip through a Gateway…

 

You haven’t even told anyone about them- not even Clary. Not wanting to risk word getting out and someone blocking or taking your research. Having the truth about these Gateways silenced and covered up just like the crash at Roswell or project Stargate and the psychics, or the Bigfoot disclosure project.

 

He wants to make sure he has all the evidence he can possibly get before it too get silenced or covered up or whatever else the government would do to bury this.

 

After all Simon; you have this.

 

You’ve spent nearly a year meticulously studying these gateways. Monitored them, found ways to measure them, see when one is gonna open more than an hour in advance, even found the lowfield vibration allowing you to accurately gauge down to the minute how long they’ll stay open.

 

You’ve got enough data to actually make a safe, exploratory trip through…and even managed to come up with something to keep the Cretaceous creatures from seeing you as their next meal.

 

You are the first- the ONLY- human to ever actually lay eyes on the world in this state.

 

This is easily the biggest scientific find of the last century.

 

That’s a bit more important than arguing with your robot about your favorite sneakers _(Even if the damn thing DID throw them away five damn times…seriously once more yoda ears and polka dot all the way)._

 

Simon sighed, shaking his head, glancing down at his watch, tapping the screen open, checking the evaluations he’d taken in so far, idly flipping through the gateway readings just to be sure everything looks fi-

 

_Hmm…_

He paused, tilting his head,

 

“Hey Becks? Hold up a sec.” he gestured absently for it to come back over.

Becks made a little questioning trilling noise, skittering over, scampering up, lightly perching on his shoulder, leaning in, tilting its head curiously. He held his wrist up within the view of the ocular sensors.

 

“The readings…they’ve changed…they don’t do that. There should have been a flux about forty minutes ago, but I don’t see the readings from it…

 

I-it’s weird, almost like it’s frozen. I’ve never seen one do that before.” He glanced over, quirking his eyebrow,

 

“Check the sensor display, see if we can see what might have caused it. There shouldn’t have been any electromagnetic storms back in our time but it is possible there was an unexpected solar flare or the like…that might account for the wonky behavior but I don’t know.”

 

Becks started to beep in the affirmative before pausing, head tilting faintly, ocular sensors widening, flashing a pale orangish red, giving an alarming little trilling whirr, legs fidgeting worriedly,

 

Simon blinked, glancing over,

 

“What do you mean it’s moving? The sensor shouldn’t be moving! _It’s in my ID!_

 

_Why would my ID be moving?_

 

It’s coated with the PDEZ, none of the animals would really register it- at least not by smell…Maybe something saw it. Where’s it going?”

 

A string of trilling beeps and four frantically waving little legs,

 

Simon blinked,

 

“I-it’s…following us? Like moving in the same general direction or like _following_ us following us?”

 

A series of dolphin like clicks, colors shifting to a muted green, a little map like projection appearing in the air just in front of Simon, two serpentine lines appearing a blue and a shorter red one. The red was following the exact path of the blue.

 

Simon gulped,

 

“Oookay…so…whatever has my ID is actively tracking us. We need to figure out what it is, and if necessary how to avoid it. If it can sense me through the PDEZ we really need to find a way to avoid it…

 

Maybe it’s following the markers? They’d be curious, new…maybe it’s just something that likes shiny things…Like the cretaceous version of a Magpie or something?”

 

Chattering beeps and trilling,

 

Simon sighed,

 

“Yeah…it’s the ‘something’ that worries me too…also it’s the cretaceous- the ‘Magpie’ could be fifteen feet long and carnivorous…

 

Actually it almost certainly is.” he shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts, glancing back over at Becks.

 

“Okay the camera goes off after five minutes when picked up- but before it did it should have caught something. Stabilize whatever footage you can retrieve and play it back…let’s at least get a visual of what’s after us.”

 

Becks made a few rapid clicks and bleeps, the whirling sound intensifying before quieting, the air in front of Simon again flickering, a picture coming into focus.

 

When it did he gasped, shaking his head,

 

“Ah damnit- why couldn’t it of just been a fifteen foot, carnivorous magpie?”

 

There were five people- _clearly_ feds. Well, at least three of the five were. The tallest man with the weirdly light, hazelish green eyes, the man with the deeper complexion and immaculate facial hair, and the tall, Asian woman with the dangerously flashing eyes was all dressed in black tact gear and strapped with weapons. Definitely some type of soldiers or mercenaries. The other two were harder to pin down. The brunette woman was absolutely gorgeous- she kinda reminded Simon of Laura Croft- definitely nothing wrong with that…she actually pulled it off flawlessly, looked like a total badass…

 

Can’t deny it wasn’t a hell of a look for her.

 

The last man really did make him pause…he looked nothing like a fed. He was surprisingly pretty; Asian, probably somewhat taller than Simon, with wildly upswept black tinted violet hair, a dash of shimmer on his cheekbones, eyelids and lips which also had a metallic violet tint to them.

 

 In his tight purple jeans, heeled boots, and VERY fitted black tee that stopped about an inch above the jeans topped off with a couple rings, necklaces, and a silver earcuff type thing he looked more like a guy that’d be ignoring Simon at a club rather than jumping through holes in time…still they had to be Feds or like the Men In Black or something…

 

_Huh…_

_Who knew MIB recruited by raiding modeling agencies?_

 

In any case they had to be government…

 

Who else would be wandering about in the cretaceous?

 

They were government agents, shifty government agents, probably from some unknown/unnamed morally ambiguous agency specifically designed for keeping these kind of things from the public.

 

Shifty, sneaky, evil secretive government agents…who just found his student ID 65 million years in the past…

_Crap…_

_Also he hated that holoclip._

Couldn’t they of at least have one nerdy, awkward looking evil, shifty government agent?

 

Kinda break up the weirdly hot thing…

 

_Ugh…it’s like he’s being tracked by the cast of Top Model: Task Force edition._

He sighed, leaning forward, tilting his head to better hear as the audio came into focus,

 

“-e definitely doesn’t look like the type to be hiking here, that’s for sure, and that’s about the only reason I can think of for someone to come out here...” Scary eyes said,

 

Weird eyed dude, Laura Croft, Facial hair dude, and Pretty dude shrugged glancing around at each other. Pretty dude paused, tilting his head,

 

“Unless he knew the Anomaly was going to be here.”

 

Weird eyed dude startled, looking over at Pretty dude in surprise,

 

“How would he know that?”

 

Pretty dude shrugged,

 

“I do not know but it is the only logical reason I can think of for this particular person to be in this particular location. Bindy’s right, He does not seem the hiking type…honestly with that many advanced academic interests I’d say it’s rare he ever leaves the University. The only reason I can think of for someone like that to come all the way out here is if they were looking for something. He had the bands, he had the forethought to mark his way. He came prepared for this.”

 

Weird eyes glanced at the shimmering silver band on the branch, looking over, following the trail of similar shimmering silver bands catching in the sunlight, shaking his head faintly.

 

“So it would seem. But once again, how?”

 

Pretty dude shrugged,

 

“I don’t know. I suppose that is a question we can ask when we find him.” He glanced back down at the ID, watching the little holoclip, turning it over, running over the litany of seemingly random, vastly diversified fields of study,

 

“I for one am quite curious to meet this ‘Simon Lewis’.”

 

Simon scoffed, shaking his head quickly,

 

“Oh that is SO not happening weirdly pretty fed dude.”

 

Becks made a little whirling chattering sound in the affirmative.

 

##    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>  **Tredectipod** \- like an octopus but with 13 legs, just because I liked the sound of it.
> 
> Oh my god I love Simon and his robot ‘Becks’ (We’ll get into the name later….but I did like just realize his sister in the show –and theoretically the books- was named Rebecca…it’s not named after that.)
> 
> I think part of this is kinda influenced by Richie and backpack in Static Shock (Yeah pretty old cartoon, haven’t seen it in ages but it sprung to mind, it was always one of my favorites…
> 
> Plus he was actually gay in canon-(Confirmed by creator) it was just the early 2000’s so they couldn’t actually mention it- because clearly in a show tackling racial issues, gun violence, gangs, and barely masked substance abuse a guy being into other guys was a step too far…)
> 
> Anyways…I love Simon’s nicknames for the group:
> 
> Scary eyes (Bindy), Weird eyed dude (Alec), Facial hair dude (Luke), Laura Croft(Izzy) And Pretty guy (Magnus…duh)
> 
> It’s always kinda fun seeing how the different characters will describe each other, how it would differ person to person
> 
> **_Alec:_ **
> 
> **_Magnus-_** gorgeous, tall, sexy voice, great smile, amazing arms, and body and…well… ** _everything_** … _sigh_ , sweet and adorable with hands down the prettiest hazely green eyes ever,
> 
>  ** _Simon-_** Tall, good looking, oddly light eyes, really nice and a great guy but a bit uptight.
> 
>  ** _Raphael-_** Tall, weird eyed, uptight, Boyscout, slightly less annoying than most.
> 
> Lol.
> 
> I really had fun with this chapter.
> 
> What do you guys think?


	7. Chasing Your Tails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ##  _❤❤Chapter Complete!!_ _❤❤_
> 
> Yay! Another Chapter complete- This one is a bit behind my other non-complete stories as it was the last one I had worked out for the ending but now that I do and I’m down to just 4 active stories it’ll go a lot faster I think.
> 
> I now have my outline for the remaining chapters for this (and the three other remaining) Verse- meaning I actually know where we’re going here- I had a rough idea and a few vague hints but nothing solid…until now.
> 
> I’m really excited about where we’re going here, hope you like it as much as I do…Anyways…
> 
> Onto the actual chapter…

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

##  *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

_Okay cool…he’s good…Let’s see the model MIB’s find him now._

 

He and Becks spent nearly two hours painstakingly setting a false trail, having Becks dart ahead placing the bands, following along a near dry creek bed, along with a couple scraps of fabric from his Doctor who shirt with the little Tardis’s. It was a tough sacrifice but if it gets the Fed’s off his trail it’s more than worth it.

 

 Though Becks didn’t have to be quite so giddy when it came to tearing the pieces off.

 

Oh well- it was getting kinda faded anyways, he’s been meaning to get a new one. And hey, the place he got the shirt from is the same he got his orange shoes Becks always tries to toss! Maybe while he’d grabbing the new shirt he’ll snag another pair of them too.

 

Alright-slight set back with the whole shifty, weirdly hot feds on his trail thing but all in all today’s really taking a turn for the better. After setting the false trail he and Becks abandoned the use of the Glambands altogether. It really was just a very low tech backup for his backup anyways. He had Becks after all. Before they’d crossed over he’d had Becks leave a homing beacon on the other side, it had a range of over one hundred miles so regardless of how far they actually went from the gateway Becks would still be able to find their way back without issues.

 

By this point the little Tredectipod had made over twenty trips through various Gateways. The Homing Beacon was Simon’s own design. he’d  designed it to be resistant to the entire spectrum of weather and for temperatures ranging from near 200 degrees Celsius all the way down to near absolute zero- he really wanted it to be able to withstand near anything (especially since with jumping through holes in time you really have no clue what you’re gonna be leaping into).

 

In addition to Becks he also preformed several scans to input multiple maps of the area now saved in his watch- all with clear indicators of his location in conjunction with the Gateway. As he said the Glambands were just a low-tech backup to his backup anyways…

 

Always best to be prepared for every eventuality possible after all. Besides apparently they have an unintended benefit- gaslighting nosey Feds.

 

Now he’s especially grateful he thought to use them- made it far easier to send his pursuers off on a wild goose chase. Actually going forward he’s gonna be sure to do the Glambands thing for any future Gateway trips for this reason specifically.

 

As they were following his purposefully laid out trail it was near laughingly easy to shake them. Becks darted a few miles ahead laying out the trail for a good five miles before doubling back to him, the two of them instead slipping off, squeezing through a narrow, near hidden pass in the canyon wall, taking an offshoot leading down into a less accessible area of the canyon.

 

The detour had more than paid off. The offshoot narrowed a bit, taking a few kind of tight turns before opening back up into a truly stunning little mini valley looking area with a small smattering of wading pool like springs. There was even a small trickle of a waterfall from the mouth of a cave along the edge…actually he intended to go check out the cave next. But that could wait a minute. Right now he’s sitting on a small, surprisingly comfortable, little outcropping along the edge of the canyon wall overlooking the oasis type area below enjoying the pleasantly warm sun and finishing packing back up the remains of his lunch, happy to just relax for a bit and take in the sights.

 

This really is the perfect area for his little picnic type lunch, it’s absolutely teaming with life, but secluded enough that nothing overly huge could really get through. He’d had an absolute field day documenting all the wildlife in the area, taking so many scans, holograbs, and even a few good old fashioned photos that he’s already filled up two of the three backup storage sticks he’d brought. It was more than worth it though. Numerous fish, insects, lizards, mammals and smaller to mid-sized dinosaurs, including a fairly small sized Hadrosaurids- probably not fully grown yet as it’s not even twenty feet in length. There’s even what appears to be a family of Gallimimus. The two larger ones are over twelve feet tall with three adolescents, barely half the size of the larger ones all but frolicking in the water near the cave entrance, chasing fish and small lizards.

 

There’s also a Hypsilophodon that is covered in downy soft looking feathers. It’s drinking water from one of the little pools and Simon is just dying to try to pet it but knows that’s likely be a very bad idea…

 

He still **_really_** wants to though.

 

There’s a Stygimoloch that looks like a baby dragon, complete with a crown of horns. It’s colors are bright and arresting- a rich, deep green with a dappling of orange and black running along it’s back, down to the tip of the tail.

 

But by far his favorite thing he’s seen is the sizable flock of microraptors nesting around the wall of the canyon- which with their four wings, long, dramatically sweeping tails, spiky little crests that look like adorably tiny Mohawks and glistening iridescent black, blue, violet and emerald green feathering are the most awesome things he’s ever seen.

 

All in all he’s calling this trip a massive success…he’s got a chance to see dozens of different, long extinct creatures in real life and as of yet not one of them has shown any interest whatsoever in eating him (Thank you PEDZ). So he’s managed to dodge and outsmart both the entirety of the animal populous of the cretaceous and the weirdly hot MIB’s trailing him…

 

_Not bad for a nerdy college student who keeps waffling between four majors._

 

This really was an amazing jump…he hopes it’s not the only one he ever gets to make. Though in all honesty it probably will be. He sighs faintly, a bit of the giddy excitement of the trip fading as the reality of the situation came into focus.   

 

Yeah he’d managed to shake the agents **_now_**. But really, how long would that last? I mean they had his Student ID; there really wasn’t any wiggle room there. They knew who he was, where he went to school…probably the second they realized they were being duped they’d track down every bit of information possible on him.

 

_Well…Crap…_

What does he do now? I mean it’s not like he can just go into hiding- he’s a freaking twenty four year old college student not some super spy James Bond type. Crap…what’s he gonna do now? They find out he’s purposefully misleading them and he’s screwed. A little late to be rethinking it now though, can’t really take it back. I mean it’s not like he can just ignore this, play dumb an-…

 

_W-Wait…can he?_

Maybe…I mean if he just turns around, go back home, hide all the info he has and whenever they come to talk to him just play dumb. Act like he lost the trail, or got turned around or something and found his way back past wherever they were and jumped back through. Tell them he just kind of stumbled onto the Gateway and decided to jump in.

 

Seriously, he’s a college student. College students are **_notorious_** for poor judgment and foolish behavior.

 

And hell, if they have any suspicions he has a yearlong ban from the Santa Barbra Zoo dated just last week to back up his college idiot story. **_And_** the thing with his Physics teacher’s car. A-and the one with turning the mascot neon violet for a month…and the polarized, levitating gym mats- even though zooming around the gym like you’re on a magic carpet was easily the most fun ever had in their class. He didn’t get picked on for a whole three weeks after that one. That was a record right there. And the exploding jello…A-and the thing with the glowing parrots…

 

And the damn Pumpkin Weasel Incident.

 

Umm…Yeah he can SO play the quirky college student, poor impulse control, idiotically reckless choices card. He has an entire backlog of proof at his disposal…

 

_Huh…who knew that’d come in handy? Never thought he’d actually be grateful for the Pumpkin Weasel Incident. Guess there really is a silver lining to everything._

 

Hey! What if he says the whole hiking thing was like a hazing ritual or something to get in with a frat or a popular group? Maybe even say the thing with the Komodo Dragons was for the same reason. Hell, as far as that goes he can say he thought he was meeting people here for a hike and they ditched him-or when he saw the Gateway he thought it was some really elaborate prank? That could totally be the truth.

 

O-okay so yeah they might not totally buy it but it can’t be completely out there for someone to believe he’s the type to lose track of his own trail or that people would prank, ditch and/or prank WHILE ditching him…

 

_Yeah…that could work._

 

He sighs, slumping a bit against the canyon wall. Wow…he is SO not looking forward to this. Best case scenario he’s still gonna have to be careful as hell and constantly checking over his shoulder…probably update his anti-spywear on every device he has…even then he’ll have to watch everything.

 

Becks, seemingly sensing his change in mood, scurried over to him, clambering up onto his shoulder, making a soft little whirling sound. Simon huffed out a soft chuckle, reaching up, absently running his hand over the little cephalopod like contraption. Becks chirped lightly, settling closer, nudging against his hand.

 

Yeah this is gonna suck…But still it definitely beats the alternatives and it’s the best option he has. The last thing he wants is for the feds to come around snooping and get a hold of Becks. He hates to think what they’d do to the little guy.

 

I mean yeah he’s a brat…but he’s _Simon’s_ brat and he wouldn’t trade the snippy, snarky, way too fashion critical little drama queen for anything. Becks was his very first genuinely successful invention. He’s never shared him, never even tried to patent any part of him, not wanting to draw any undue attention, worrying he’d be taken away.

 

Much as he hates to cut the trip short he really needs to get back to their time before them, giving him as big of a head start as possible to get somewhere safe, with a lot of witnesses. This way he can figure out where to hide Becks if necessary and build up whatever defense he can.

 

If he can get back early enough he can hide copies of his research. Maybe get copies to people he can really trust- Clary, Phineas, maybe even professor Ragnor the head of the Hypothetical Beings Physiology And Psychology department.

 

I mean yeah, okay, dude’s a bit out there- and by ‘a bit out there’ he means the guy legitimately believes his anti-social pet Mongoose ‘Warlock’ can tell when someone is lying. Actually any student offering an explanation for a missing/late assignment is always instructed to tell the mongoose their story, Ragnor looking at Warlock’s reactions to gauge if their telling the truth or not…

 

_Umm-yeah…h-he didn’t start bringing ‘Warlock’ into the classroom till **after** he got tenure._

Still antisocial weasel lie detector aside if there’s anyone he could trust with something this bizarre it’d be Ragnor.

 

Okay he has a plan…hopefully he has enough time to set it in motion and get it well underway before the Agent’s reach the end of the trail.

 

Becks laid out the false trail for just over five miles, purposefully spreading the Glambands out more and more the farther they went, staying firmly in line with the dry river bed in hopes that it’d take a while for them to realize the trail stopped. With any luck they won’t figure it out for a while, maybe just continue along the riverbed- hopefully figuring he just decided to save the bands as he was following the riverbed. If he’s lucky- which… _well_ …in general he’s NOT…but there’s a first time for anything…maybe his ‘luck’ has been saving up for this…he can only hope.

 

Cause that’s about all he has to bank on here.

 

He groans faintly, rolling his neck, rubbing his face, blinking his eyes open, taking one last look around the cretaceous oasis, before turning, beginning to climb down from his little perch, heading back the way he’d come, glancing over at Becks.

 

“Hey, check the sensor on my I.D. see about where they are on the trail, please? I want to see how far they’ve gotten, maybe we can use that to get an idea how fast they’re moving and figure out how much time we have till they start back for the Gateway.”

 

Becks trilled, shimmering light green to rosy pink, beeping and whirling, the map again projecting in the air in front of him. He blinked in surprise.

 

Wow…they’re quick…they’re already near a mile past his last marker.

 

_How’d they cover near six miles in under two hours!? It’s rough terrain and for god’s sakes Pretty dude was in heeled boots!_

O-okay…don’t panic…take a breath…it’s okay. So they’re quick…they’re Feds- they probably train for this kind of thing…alright so…maybe not like ‘this’ kind of thing specifically…well…unless the government’s known about the Gateways for long enough to have like a protocol, but that seems ki-

 

Okay you know what? Time and place. He can debate their training when he’s in a safely populated place in his own time period rather than literally only one of six people on the entire planet.

 

_Refocus Simon…_

Kay…he’s alright. They’re still following the river bed, it should be fine. actually better than fine…this means they have near six miles to cover before they catch up to him… which means he has a minimum of two hours before they reach where he sent them off track. He’s just four miles from the Gateway. He should be able to get back to the Gateway, get out of the canyon and back safely on campus before they’re even back to where he misled them.

 

The further they go following the riverbed the better...

 

_Really if t-_

His thoughts are cut off by a trilling, kind of frantic beeping from Becks, flashing bright neon orange to blazing green.

 

_Uh oh…that’s not good…_

“What is it?” he swallowed, looking around for whatever perceived threat he registered.

 

A set of dolphin like clicks, color flashing faster, flipping through the spectrum, the air in front of him shimmering again, map reappearing, only this is different…it’s a thermal image of the area. He can see the signatures from the five feds about six miles from him along the riverbed…but about three miles up the riverbed there’s more heat signatures…

 

A lot more…

 

They’re clustered together, it’s hard to get a clear reading but there’s at least two dozen he can count without even trying. Simon feels a cold shiver clear up his spine, shaking his head faintly. He swallows, glancing nervously over at Becks.

 

“Can you tell what they are?”

 

A series of chattering, clicking and beeping boops, colors flashing rapidly, the image flickering, shifting from the map to a statistical read out, a foot tall 3D projection coming into focus, spinning slowly in midair.

 

Simon feels his heart stop.

 

He blinks, taking in the sleek, agile body built for speed and maneuverability, wide sharp, snapping jaws, fairly large, sharp eyes with binocular vision, powerful legs made for leaping.

 

_Coelophysis…_

_Oooh…crap._

Coelophysis were raptor like dinosaurs, lean and swift. Near nine feet in length, known to be vicious pack animals hunting similar to wolves allowing them to take down creatures many times their size, thought to live in groups of as many as a dozen.

 

Apparently that estimate was a bit on the low side...though it was theorized that multiple packs would occasionally share nesting grounds for protection which…oh my god i-is so much worse…

 

Nesting grounds means young, which means protective, very territorial adults ready to defend said young…

_Aaand again… Crap…_

_Oh god…_

Did he accidently just send a group of unsuspecting people into a nesting ground packed with deadly predators?

 

_Crap…_

Okay…so they may be agents working for an evil, shifty government organization bent on covering up the truth…but regardless they were people and they did not deserve to go out like that.

 

He wanted them off his trail, not dead.

 

He picked up the pace, rushing back through the narrow offshoot, quickly emerging back into the main part of the canyon, beginning to follow his own dummy trail as quickly as he can, hoping against hope that the Feds catch on quickly and turn around before it’s too late.

_Oh god…please let them figure it out in time…_

 

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

##  *-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

“Still no Glambands and no sign of Simon…I don’t like this…why would the trail just stop?” Alec asked, looking over the other members of the team.

 

Magnus shook his head, shrugging.

 

“I don’t know…maybe he ran out of bands? Or as he seems to be following the riverbed perhaps he opted to conserve them for when/if he decided to take another route.”

 

Izzy gave a slight nod, tilting her head contemplatingly.

 

“That could be. So far we’ve counted one hundred and fifty bands, they generally come in packs of two hundred. If he’s starting to run low it’d be a good strategy. It looks like he was already trying to conserve them a bit- they’ve been far more spread out since we reached the river bed. At the beginning of the trail they were about every fifty yards, the last couple had nearly two hundred yards apart. If he just has one bag of them it’d be the smart move…and if he had another then I couldn’t imagine why he’d bother suddenly trying to ease up on using them.”

 

Alec made a noncommittal noise, eyes scanning the surrounding scrub and rocks wearily, shaking his head, subconsciously checking his weapon. What they were saying made sense…it lined up with what they knew as of yet, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

 

They’d been following the trail for nearly five hours now. When the bands ran out they’d slowed down considerably, meticulously searching the area around the riverbed for signs of Simon, worried he’s wandered, or got spooked or chased by something and took off disregarding the trail. They’d found a couple scraps of his shirt snagged on a few of the trees, which caused a great deal of alarm but they were just small scraps, likely snagged when he was placing the bands.

 

They thought a few times they were getting closer, but it never led to anything. Once the bands stopped they made sure to do fairly extensive grid searches of the area to avoid missing any possible leads on the kid. The first two hours they’d covered nearly six miles…in the last three they haven’t even covered another mile, ensuring they search every possible detour, keeping a close eye out for any signs of a struggle or a predator recently in the area.

 

They’re still following the winding riverbed but it’s taking them deeper and deeper into the canyon. It was an odd area- I mean, okay admittedly it was a canyon 65 million years in the past **_everything_** about this was odd- but even with that this area specifically set off all kinds of alarms in his head. The river bed was bracketed by thick patches of scrub brush, various types of vegetation and large rock formations. There were multiple offshoots from the main part of the canyon, various caves and openings in the canyon walls, most of which were all but invisible until you were nearly directly upon them. The place felt both walled in and totally exposed.

 

As of yet they hadn’t had run ins with anything overly dangerous but they’ve noted several signs of multiple species traveling through, some exceptionally large.

 

Luke had noted several claw marks on some of the surrounding trees and rocks. Alec knew from some of his postings that many large cats and bears frequently did this to mark territory. Magnus helpfully offered that they’d found evidence a few types of dinosaur species did this as well- most of them in the raptor family.

 

This didn’t really do much to dissuade Alec’s worry.

 

Still- they were in the cretaceous, the presence of dinosaurs wasn’t exactly news _(And oh wow he is SO never getting used to that)_. Magnus did say that the marks looked to be at least a week or so old so that was something…kinda…

 

He sighed, shaking his head faintly, going back to scanning the surrounding area, trying to focus on looking for signs of this Simon while simultaneously keeping a watch out for any possible incoming threat. He had a feeling Bindy had it pretty well in hand, she was leading the group, sharp black eyes on alert for the slightest threat. Even so another set of eyes couldn’t hurt, and it’s not like he could just ‘not’ be on alert. Everything about this set him on edge…far more so than it should really…which was kind of alarming in and of itself.

 

I mean yeah he is out of his element _(about 65 million years out of it to be precise)_ and yes his first day at his ‘nice, low key, civilian corporate job’ including an emergency rescue mission involving jumping through time and the sudden possibility of dinosaur attacks could very well cause a ridiculous amount of alarm and uneasiness…

 

But this didn’t just feel like the usual ‘totally out of my element/over my head/don’t know what the hell’s going on’ uneasiness. He’s had that feeling enough to be able to differentiate it from other warning type feelings.

 

This was a totally different feeling…one he was far too familiar with.

 

He felt like they were walking into a trap.

 

It didn’t make any sense. They were tracking down a lost college student, not some fugitive on the run from the law. There was no reason to believe there was any sort of ‘trap’. Nevertheless he knew that feeling well enough that he never just waved it off- there had to be a reason he was feeling like that.

 

_But what?_

 

The trail petering out did seem a bit suspicious…but it could be like the others were thinking, he was running low on the bands and trying to conserve them. It would make sense…but there was something odd about it.

 

At the beginning of the trail the bands were set near every fifty yards- that was extremely precise…after that the bands had been spaced about every seventy yards for around a half a mile…then to one hundred yards…then one fifty…the last three at two hundred yard intervals. The spacing was very precise…Too precise.

 

The kids’ a science nerd with multiple majors and vastly different interests. In the clip he looked like a ball of energy, even in the little five second clip he couldn’t manage to just sit still, smiling, fidgeting and waving.

Yes he was interested in science, yes the methodical thing would make sense…but this was a scifi nerd who jumped through a hole in time into a never before seen world.

 

There is NO way someone that excitable could be this methodical in this situation. Assuming he’s not totally panicked he should be bounding about like an excitable puppy.

 

But he’s not. There’s nothing erratic about his path, from the beginning of the trial all the way through. He’s veered this way or that a bit, but his path seems fairly planned, it’s never really circled back, never veered into any of the multitude of offshoots littering the canyon walls, never ventured towards any of the caves or anything but a fairly straight shot right through the largest, most open part of the canyon…

 

Why?

 

Why wouldn’t he explore? Why wouldn’t he wander? He has the bands, he’s marking his trail. If that’s the case then there’s no reason for him to stay on such a straight shot.  They’ve passed dozens of offshoots and caves that’d be fascinating to explore, and this kid? Alec couldn’t imagine him **_not_** wanting to see everything. Following the riverbed kinda made sense…in a completely clinical, logical type way…but again it’s so thought out, so consistent…so calculated.

 

That did not feel like the dorky kid in the clip wandering around an entirely new world.

 

At least not on his very first trip…

 

Huh…

 

“Hey guys? Hold up a sec.”

 

The others paused, turning to face him.

 

“What? Did you see something?” Magnus asked, glancing around curiously.

 

Alec shook his head.

 

“No I haven’t…that’s kinda the problem. We haven’t seen one scrap of evidence of this kid since reaching the riverbed beyond the purposeful trail he’s leaving and a few scraps of a shirt. Does that not strike anyone else as odd?”

 

The other’s glanced between the rest of the group.

 

“I suppose…but well…that could be intentional though. Maybe he thinks it’s like The Butterfly Effect type thing, he’s trying to avoid altering history or what have you? That could be...” Magnus offered, kind of unsure.

 

“I…maybe It definitely seems intentional… but to me it doesn’t seem like that. Think about the bands, the trail, the couple scraps of the shirt. Everything is so uniform, so planned…it doesn’t seem like a scifi geek who stumbled through a hole in time. You all saw the holoclip- the kid couldn’t even manage to sit still for five seconds. He should be excited, giddy, trying to take in everything. His trail should’ve looked like a hyperactive chipmunk on a sugar high- but it’s not. It’s precise, calculated. He came through about two hours before us, he had a fair amount of a head start but even so I wouldn’t think he’d be moving very quickly- he’s a science geek in an entirely new world. He should be exploring, documenting things, taking in every detail he possibly can.

 

How have we not caught up to him yet?

 

And another thing- about the bands, the spacing…it’s **_very_** uniform…very calculated. The first set up to the river bed was near exactly every fifty yards, then every seventy, every hundred, hundred and fifty, every two hundred…every last one was placed the exact distance- nearly to the **_foot_**. That seems far more thought out than this kid on a first, random trip through time. Even if he was downright compulsive about it, He never ended up getting side tracked? Never waffled…even _once?_

 

Add in the scraps of the shirt and it’s just way too calculated. Something just doesn’t feel right here, we’re missing something and before we go any further we need to figure out what the hell it is.”

 

Bindy tilted her head consideringly, dark eyes flashing, giving a faint nod.

 

“You’re right…it does feel off. It has since around the time we reached the riverbed. Up till then we were seeing little things-scuffs in the dirt, the slide mark where he stumbled by one of the trees and so on, but once we hit the riverbed it stopped.

 

And the shirt scraps are throwing me. Yeah they could’ve been snagged when he was hanging the bands…that’s what they LOOKED like…

 

But…I don’t know…they seem almost-”

 

“Planted…” Alec supplied, nodding, relieved that someone else- someone familiar with this _particular_ brand of random insanity- saw it too.

 

She gave a quick, curt nod, pointing.

 

“Exactly. Something’s felt off for a while but I couldn’t put my finger on it…but you’re absolutely right. It feels like we’re being led…like a trap.”

 

Magnus blinked in confusion, shaking his head, glancing between the two.

 

“I- that doesn’t make sense…he’s a lost college student, not some criminal trying to shake the authorities. Also he’s in the Cretaceous- who would he even be leaving a false trail _for?”_

 

“Us?”

 

Izzy quirked her eyebrow.

 

“Okay…how would he know about us?”

 

Alec shrugged, shaking his head.

 

“I really don’t know but that’s the only thing that makes any sense. This is a false trail, it just is. I’ve been on enough missions, followed enough to notice the signs. I should’ve noticed it earlier, but the whole ‘time travel’ thing kinda tripped me up. I don’t know how he found out someone was following him, or why he chose to dodge them but it’s the only thing that makes sense. We saw far more natural signs of him up to when we reached the riverbed. I’m thinking that’s around when he found out he was being followed, when he begin the false trail.

 

If that’s the case every bit of this is intentional. He’s not ‘lost’. He has a clear plan here. His actions here aren’t those of a random scifi nerd who stumbled into the scientific find of a lifetime. This is not his first time encountering an anomaly. He knew what they are, he knew it was here, he knew he was going through, and I think he had an idea what to expect on this side. He’s not ‘lost’; He knows exactly where he is and exactly what he’s doing…

 

Hell, he might have this more worked out than we do.

 

I don’t know how he knew all this, how he figured out he was being tracked, or why he decided to throw us off his trail, but I really think we need to find out.”

 

Magnus nodded, glancing around the group.

 

“We really do. So you said you think the false trail began back where we reached the riverbed?”

 

“Yeah…like I said up till then there were other signs of him…signs that weren’t specifically planted.”

 

Again Magnus nodded, pointing .

 

“Okay so that’s probably where he gave us the slip. That was nearly six miles back, if he lost us there then we have quite a bit of ground to cover to get back to him. If he went back through the anomaly the team would have called it in to us so he’s still in this time.

 

We need to turn around, head back and see where he slipped off. I’ll call back to the team and let them know that there’s a definite possibility of him coming through before us so th…” He trails off, freezing, eyes widening, looking around.

 

“Did you guys feel that?” He asked voice much quieter than a moment ago.

 

The other’s nodded looking around as well, instantly on high alert, moving closer together, easing back, towards the canyon wall. Alec didn’t know what was going on but going by how they were now scanning the trees and rocks surrounding them he doubted it’s anything good. Glancing over he realizes Bindy has her weapon out, turning, laser focused on the tree line, head cocked, listening intently. Alec swallowed, taking up a defensive position in front of Magnus, raising his own weapon, holding his breath, heart in his throat, listening for what had so set the others on edge, but catching nothing. He swallows once more, looking at the others, shaking his head, beginning to speak before something catches his attention. A bit of a tremor, the ground shivering, it almost felt like a small earthquake…

 

Only he has a feeling it’s not an earthquake.

 

He takes a deep breath, not risking looking away from the brush, trees and boulders surrounding them.

 

“W-we need to get out of the open…we’re sitting ducks here.”

 

Bindy gave a curt nod.

 

“There’s a small cave along the back wall of the canyon, move back slowly, avoid sudden movements a-”

 

Her sentence is cut off by an earsplittingly loud roar, the shaking intensifying A huge head coming into view emerging through the dense brush from a nearly hidden break in the canyon wall, about a hundred yards ahead of them.

 

Alec and the others freeze, not even daring to breath. The creature seems to freeze as well, the huge nearly three foot long head tilting slowly, yellowish reptilian eyes blinking in the light, razor sharp two inch long teeth gleaming, greyish brown pebbly scales and bony eyebrow ridges standing out in sharp contrast to the thick covering of white, grey and brown molted bristley feathers covering its body, clear up to its head, ending in a spiky kind of crest.

 

_W-wait...what?_

_T-rexes had feathers? T-that doesn’t seem r-_

Those sickening yellow eyes land on them, head tilting curiously before rearing back letting out a bloodcurdling roar, exploding out of the trees, barreling right for them.

 

Bindy waved them back, ushering them along.

 

_“Screw ‘slowly’, Cave! NOW! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!”_

 

They turn, rushing for the other side of the canyon, the ground shaking beneath their feet, roar echoing in their ears.

 

 

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And again…
> 
> Dun, dun, dun!
> 
> Yeah I know it’s a rather abrupt place to end but this chapter is nearly 6k already- if I try to do our first dino chase here I run the risk of cutting it short- we definitely don’t want that.
> 
>  
> 
> I swear we’ll have at least one chapter part that isn’t ending on a cliffhanger.
> 
> Kay lots of stuff here…
> 
>  
> 
> Well we already had a lot of random dinosaurs here- what’s one more?
> 
>  
> 
> _In point of fact it’s not a T-rex it’s a Gorgosaurus…it’s like a t-rex with a fluffy, feathery covering…so you know I had to use it._
> 
>  
> 
> Lol I loved Simon’s list if proof (I couldn’t resist sneaking in The Pumpkin Weasel Incident). And Ragnor and ‘Warlock the antisocial Mongoose’...By the way I laughed far too long at ‘antisocial weasel lie detector’…think we may have to meet him in this verse (It’ll probably happen in verse 5 too- that’s where I’ve mentioned him before).
> 
>  
> 
> _So what do you guys think so far?_
> 
>  
> 
> And now I’m gonna leave you with…
> 
>  
> 
> A whole bunch of random dinosaurs because figure visuals help…and these are some fun ones.
> 
>  
> 
> _(FYI in this verse I’m trying to kind of shake things up a bit, put in creatures we haven’t seen a million times- figured it’d be more fun.)_
> 
> Gallimimus
> 
> [ ](https://www.extinctanimals.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Gallimimus.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Hypsilophodon
> 
> [ ](https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Hypsilophodon_65bf.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Stygimoloch _(Mainly wanted to put this one in because it’s name translates to ‘Demon from the river Styx’ so…yeah had to have it lol)_
> 
> [ ](https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/stygimoloch_by_baryonyx_walkeri-d4tldnh_a0db.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Microraptor
> 
> [ ](http://cdn.sci-news.com/images/enlarge6/image_7381_1e-Indrasaurus-wangi.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Coelophysis
> 
> [ ](http://www.cmstudio.com/image/Coelophysis036.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Gorgosaurus
> 
> [ ](https://www.activewild.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Gorgosaurus.jpg)


	8. Fluffy the Technicolor Dinosaur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> ## ❤❤Chapter complete!!❤❤
> 
> **(Couldn** **’** **t resist the title lol)**
> 
> I know usually I have 2 parts (or more) per chapter but the 1st of this was gonna be switching over to Simon’s POV and just seeing him catching up with them, hearing the Dino roar- Figure it’d kinda break up the story and I wanted to dive right into the action…don’t think too many people will mind that…
> 
>  
> 
> So…onto the dino chase!

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

##  *-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*-Alec-*

##  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_“Go, go, go, move!”_ Bindy shouted at them, the group tearing across the riverbed.

 

The beast roared again, the sound reverberating off the canyon walls, huge feet pounding causing the grown to quake and shiver. The cave’s clear on the other side of the canyon about five hundred yards from them and the Dinosaur is closing in fast. It’s utter chaos, they scramble over the riverbed, the dinosaur exploding out of the trees, tearing towards them, closing fast, far too fast.

 

_Oh good god…he’s being chased by a freaking dinosaur! A dinosaur covered in molted fluffed up feathers._

_He is being chased by fluffy, feathery death…_

_How is t-_

_Oh to hell with that RUN!!!_

They scramble out the other side of the river bed, tearing across the dirt, trying in vain to eat up the distance between them and the far wall but it’s just no use, they’re not fast enough, the beast is all but upon them. Alec turns reaching over catching Magnus, pushing him along ahead of him, staying near Bindy leading up the back of the group, keeping between Luke, Izzy and Magnus and the fluffy T-rex thing. The creature roars, lunging straight for them, sending clouds of dust and dirt swirling through the air.

 

They dart to the left, dodging into a bit of scrub brush, gnarly, scruffy trees, and larger boulders, hoping the cover will help slow the beast, give them a chance.

 

It does slow the thing, but not by much. The beast snarls, tearing into the coverage, dislodging a couple of the scruffy trees, knocking them down. They scramble out of the way and around a large boulder, slipping between it and some sturdier trees, the dinosaur roaring, teeth gnashing, clawed feet ripping small trees and brush out of the earth, sending dust and rocks flying.

 

The cave is just fifty yards away now but there’s no coverage whatsoever between the boulders and scrub and the cave- it’s wide open…

 

There’s no way they could cross fifty yards of wide open space without it catching them…

 

None…

 

And the boulders will only block them for so long.

 

_Oh god how were they gonn-_

“Keep going guys, cave’s straight ahead, I got this.” Bindy shouts waving them forward.

 

With that she suddenly darts sharply away from the others, dashing out of the brush line, lifting her weapon, the thing sparking, a series of bright violet beams firing out, hitting the creature’s right flank. There’s smoke and a sizzling sound but it doesn’t put the thing down, doesn’t stun it, nothing… just seems to piss it off.

 

“Damnit!” She curses, darting away, towards a smattering of boulders and trees.

 

It turns from the others, sickening yellow eyes zeroing in on her, roaring, this one so much louder the other sounds, shooting straight through Alec, so much louder than anything he’s ever even imagined, viscous jaws snapping, now focused solely on Bindy and the sparking, sizzling gun thing, charging right for her.

 

The other’s steps falter, looking over.

 

 _“GO!! I got it!”_ She shouts at them, waving them forward, darting between two boulders, finding a bit of coverage, firing again at the beast, it roaring, advancing on her, scrambling at the rocks.

 

**_“GO!”_ **

****

The other three rush across the clearing, bounding into the cave. Alec reacts on instinct, doubling back, darting the other way, lifting his own weapon, firing several rounds into the other side of the beast. The rounds are far larger than those in the weapons he’s used to but they don’t seem to have any effect, except for pissing it off even more. It roars, charging towards him now.

 

“The feathers are working as protection- it’s not getting through!” Magnus shouted.

 

_Damnit! He was in the cave!_

 

“Yeah got that, move your ass, cave now!” Alec shouted, hearing the sizzling sound of Bindy’s weapon from the other side, the beast again roared, jaws gnashing, turning back to her. He moves over, raising his weapon, again firing drawing it’s attention back.

 

“You need to hit the bare spots!”

 

“Get back to the damn cave Magnus!”

 

“Not without you guys!” He barked, running right towards the other two and the dinosaur.

 

_“What in the hell are you doing!?”_

“Giving you guys some cover!”

 

“Magnus get the h-” Alec trailed off, as Magnus dodged to the right, zigzagging erratically, throwing five odd, brightly colored sphere like things at the beast.

 

They hit, exploding on impact, releasing huge multicolored plums of iridescent, neon colored smoke, dust and…glitter?

 

_W-i-what?_

Alec blinked, freezing a moment at the sheer absurdity, startling as Magnus all but barreled into him, catching his hand, turning on a dime, pulling him quickly back towards the cave, the dinosaur roaring, thrashing about.

 

_“Why are you decorating the dinosaur!?”_

Magnus shook his head, glancing over, Bindy zooming around the dinosaur catching up to them, the trio speeding up, tearing across the open range for the cave.

 

“I’m not! The swirling colors, lights and shimmer wreak havoc with their senses, but it’ll only buy us a few minutes and when it clears it’ll b-”

 

There’s another ear splitting roar, the ground rocking. Alec chances a glance over his shoulder, the iridescent, multicolored cloud dissipating, the dinosaur snapping at the air, trying to bite the flashes and sparks, nostrils flaring, spewing bright glimmering smoke.

 

_Oh wow…that’s weird._

The thing’s scruffy, thick, once white, brown and grey feathers are now vaguely iridescent and stained brilliant blue, orange, violet, lime green and neon pink.

 

_Man…and he thought it looked pissed when it was just being shot at._

 

Now it looked near unhinged, eyes flashing, jaws snapping so hard Alec would swear something had to crack, those bright, vicious yellow eyes blink, clear, focus again on them. That massive head rears back, letting out a roar that reverberates clear down to their toes, again tearing straight for them.

 

_Oh crap!_

 

Alec turns back, catching Magnus, pulling him along, hurling the two of them into the mouth of the cave, turning so he takes the brunt of the impact with the floor, rolling to a stop. Bindy crashes through the cave entrance, the Dinosaur roaring causing the ground to quake, the cave rattling, small rocks, stalactites  and debris shaking free from the cave roof. Alec shifted Magnus more underneath him, using his own body as a shield.

 

The beast roars again, leaning down, teeth gnashing and snapping at the cave entrance, scrambling to get to them.

 

Bindy darts forward, weapon whirring, lifting it, firing again into the beast, this time from just feet away, hitting it directly between the eyes. The beast gives an ear splitting screech of pain, face smoking and singed. It rears back, stumbling, the pain finally enough to get it to retreat.

 

The group all but collapse on the cave floor, just trying to catch their breath.

 

_Oh good god…he is SO not prepared for this._

 

He was chased by a freaking dinosaur…nearly eaten by a dinosaur. Not only that but he actually ran AT a dinosaur. He purposefully antagonized a Dinosaur. He was saved by a mad scientist in club wear with a handful of neon glitter bombs…

 

_And THIS is his ‘nice, safe, corporate’ job?_

_Say what you will about the military/government type jobs and postings but at least none of those first days involved nearly being eaten by something…_

_Seriously this is j-_

 

“’You know this isn’t really incentive for me to try to stay OUT of trouble…right? Not that I’m in any way complaining mind you.”

 

Alec startled from his thoughts, blinking, glancing down at Magnus, taking in the slight teasing, impish little smirk.

 

**_Smirk…_ **

 

They were just nearly eaten by a dinosaur and he is SMIRKING.

 

Alec gave a disbelieving huff, shaking his head giving a slightly flailing wave towards the cave entrance.

 

“How are you joking? We were just nearly eaten by freaking Fluffy the T-rex a-”

 

“Gorgosaurus.”

 

“What?”

 

“It wasn’t a T-rex, it was a Gorgosaurus, ‘Fluffy’ does fit though. They’re quite similar but they have a thick feathery coat...also they’re usually far further south than this- I’ve never heard of one in this area. I wonder if there’s more around here? Maybe w c-”

 

 

“Oh my god…we are not looking for Fluffy the T-r-”

 

“Gorgosaurus.”

 

“Whatever! We’re not looking for Fluffy’s friends! One is more than enough thank you…and what the hell were you doing running BACK out of the cave? You were safe!”

 

“Yeah…but you guys weren’t.”

 

Alec huffed, blinking.

 

“Magnus I’m supposed to protect you.”

 

“Yes…and you were- you did…then I had a chance to get my supplies and I protected you.”

 

“That was not part of the deal.”

 

“Maybe not but that’s how it is gonna be.”

 

“No I-”

 

“Alec? You guys were pinned down, you didn’t have an out- I did. So I helped. I have done it before, and I _will_ do it again.  I’ve been doing this for over four years…I’ve made it through all this time and I’m still here. I know you’ve probably faced more crazy, impossible, insane, never-gonna-happen things than you can name, then most people would ever even believe…

 

But so have I.

 

I know Raph hired you to protect me…I still maintain I don’t need specific security just for me, but there’s nothing wrong with having more backup on the team. And that is what we are.

 

 A team.

 

That is the only way it works.” He paused, reaching over, catching Alec’s arm, squeezing tightly.  Looking up he meets Alec’s gaze, eyes sharp and challenging, an undisguised fire sparking in the dark depths that stops Alec dead in his tracks.

 

“Look, I can understand that you are the protective type- it’s pretty obvious…and not gonna lie more than a little appealing. In general I am good with you covering me…like REALLY good…But sweetheart if you’re actually expecting me to run for cover at the first sign of danger you are delusional.

 

That is not me. That has never been me. That will never be me. It just won’t. I’m not gonna simply set on the sidelines while others are in danger. If someone is in danger- you, Bindy, Izzy, Raph, Luke or anyone else- and I can help? I am going to help; it’s simple as that.

 

You protect me, I protect you…that’s the way it works. That is the **_only_** way this works. Are we clear, _Captain?”_

 

_Woah…I-is it suddenly like REALLY warm in here?_

 

Alec swallowed, blinking, nodding quickly.

 

“Umm…y-yeah…crystal.”

 

Magnus relaxed, head tilting curiously, pretty, deep eyes flickering over his expression, eyebrow quirking in interest at the slight flush brightening Alec’s cheeks. He gave a soft little approving hum, fingers trailing lightly along Alec’s arm, causing his breath to catch.

 

“Wonderful…glad we got that settled… _Captain.”_

 

Alec flushed brighter, giving a nervous little laugh, subconsciously settling closer, gaze slipping from those pretty impossibly deep brown eyes down to his soft, iridescent, violet lips, lingering.

 

“Ahem…”

 

Alec startled, glancing up from Magnus, faced for the second time today by the teasingly knowing looks of the map expert, the (Former)Assassin and his little sister…

_Crap…_

_Yup…that’s awkward._

 

He swallowed, flushing, giving a slightly unsure shrug.

 

“I…um…tha-” He trails off, startling faintly at an odd skittering movement off to the side.

 

He looks over, shifting, bringing his watch up, using the light to illuminate the area, blinking in confusion at the goggly orange eyes staring back. The little lizard’s head tilts, tongue flickering, emitting a little chirping sound before skittering along the wall, making its way into a crack in the side of the cave.

 

_Huh…that almost looked lik-_

 

Magnus nudged Alec.

 

“See, told you it was going to get backup.”

 

Alec groans loudly, giving a disbelieving laugh at the ridiculous, stupidly brave, annoyingly pretty, already far too intoxicating, nut job of a mad scientist underneath him, shaking his head, subconsciously tugging him closer, glancing up, meeting his eyes.

 

“Oh my god you are unbelievable.”

 

Magnus beams.

 

“Well thank you darling.”

 

“Yeah…I didn’t actually mean that as a compliment….”

 

“Uh huh…sure you didn’t…”

 

Alec laughed, rolling his eyes.

 

“You are incorrigible.”

 

“Awe! I think you’re incredible too!”

 

Alec groaned, shaking his head, shifting back, climbing to his feet, extending his hand to help Magnus up. Magnus reached forward, taking his hand, Alec tugging him up. Magnus settled close- far closer than necessary, bracing himself against Alec, looking up at him through his lashes with a playfully impish smirk.

 

“You know I WAS pretty heroic out there- practically a knight in shining armor. Pretty sure you’re supposed to reward me with a kiss.”

 

Alec gave a slight chuckle, quirking his eyebrow.

 

“Yeah…I’m not exactly the ‘damsel in distress’ type.”

 

“True…but it’s between you and Bindy. I try that line with her she’ll tell her girlfriend and ‘Fluffy’ the technicolored Gorgosaurus is gonna be the least of my worries.

 

Besides you’re prettier.”

 

Alec burst out laughing, cheeks flushing, shaking his head before getting himself in order, glancing back up at Magnus.

 

“You are absolutely insane.”

 

Magnus shrugged.

 

“But I am so _very_ entertaining,”

 

“More like aggravating.”

 

“Intoxicating?”

 

“Exasperating.”

 

“Endearing?”

 

Alec chuckled, beginning to shake his head before pausing, eyes flickering over him consideringly giving a conceding shrug, smirking back playfully.

 

“Okay, think I have to give you that one.”

 

Magnus’s eyes widened, faltering in surprise. He swallowed, a blink and you’ll miss it blush warming his cheeks. He took a deep breath, nodding quickly before seeming to collect himself, turning to the others, giving a sharp clap and an overly bright smile, gesturing animatedly.

 

“O-okay…so about Simon and the false trail…”

 

Alec chuckled, moving over to stand by the other three as they got back to the task at hand, listening to Magnus’s excited chattering extrapolations, unable to hide a bit of a smirk when those pretty brown eyes locked with his, Magnus stumbling momentarily over his words, flushing a bit before spinning right back on track.

 

_Okay…so this job was insane…beyond insane…so far beyond insane there probably wasn’t even a word to accurately describe it…_

 

_But gotta admit…_

_There were a few DEFINITE bonuses._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I LOVE this verse! It is so much fun.
> 
> I know Alec’s supposed to be Magnus’s security but…well…come on:
> 
> It’s Magnus Bane.
> 
> No way in hell he’s just gonna stand by and wait to be rescued….actually I can’t really see writing any of our characters like that. I think this will be a good balance for them, I always prefer couples as equals (Though FYI I end up with a hetero couple _{cough Luke and Maiara, cough}_ odds are the girl’s doing the rescuing like 80% of the time…I don’t make the rules I j-w-well…yeah here I do…which is why it’s gonna be like that lol…).
> 
> I know the colored/iridescent bomb things are kinda out there but I figure Magnus wouldn’t want to hurt the creatures- he’d look for ways to incapacitate them that don’t involve them dying…and as for the shimmery/colorful thing…well…again…
> 
> **_It’s Magnus Bane…_ **
> 
> I really liked how this went (No it’s probably not the same shifty lizard, there’s just a lot of them in this time…I just figured it’d be a fun little callback…I like the ‘shifty’ lizard…And ‘Fluffy’ the technicolored dinosaur lol.)
> 
> Oh one thing…I’m kinda trying to slip little nods in for the other verses…it’s not like ‘running out of ideas or just repeating myself for the hell of it or cause I forgot’ it’s a way to kinda connect the verses. I love the idea that some things flit through all of them- like ‘the pumpkin weasel incident’, or the model talk, or Magnus and Alec’s little run of teasing/flirting words.
> 
> It’s kinda a little game I’m playing- like dropping hints in one verse that crop up in another (like in the Spy verse I had Simon sarcastically tell Alec ‘oh yeah and I’m a warlock’…then two chapter later in the 40’s verse we find out that’s an actual thing…
> 
> I’m finding it very entertaining.
> 
> Anyways, we’re ¾ of the way there- with all 3 of the remaining stories in progress (Yay they’re even again…this one was a bit behind the others for a while).
> 
> 4 chapters to go.
> 
> So what do you guys thinks so far?
> 
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	9. Land Octopi Spies

##  {*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*}

##  *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*

##  {*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*}

 

A-alright…alright…he’s almost caught up to the agents. He did not know he could move this damn fast but he’s nearly caught up to them. He is past the end of his false trail. Thankfully the agents slowed down considerably, not even making it two miles past the last Glamband. He’s not sure why they’ve slowed so much, but he’s pretty relieved. If they kept going at the same pace no way he’d of been able to reach them before the nesting ground. They’d of wandered into it and there wouldn’t have been a damn thing he could do about it. He swallowed feeling a bit queasy just at the mere thought.

 

Taking a deep breath to clear away that thought he again glanced down at his watch going through the ongoing readouts he’s getting from Becks and the sensor in his Student I.D.. Once the Top Model Task Force (TMTF) as he’s taken to mentally referring to them- reached the end of the obvious trail they began to spread out, search the area in a grid like pattern. That was good-well not that the TMTF is actively searching (Cause three guesses what- or rather who- they’re searching for) but at least their slowing down has allowed him a chance to close the gap between them and kept them a safe distance from the nesting ground.

 

He’ll definitely reach them before they get anywhere near it but those aren’t even close to the only blips he’s seeing. He’s catching signatures all around ,especially along the edges and through the breaks in the canyon walls.

 

Large signatures.

 

There’s signs of a nesting pair of Hatzegopteryx in one of the caves along the top rim of the canyon, multiple hits of [_Deinonychus_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinonychus), a group of _Ornithomimus_ scattered about amongst the boulders and scrub brush along the base of the far wall and a lot more that he can’t get a long enough hit on to get an accurate reading as they keep darting into the caves, outcroppings, breaks and off shoots that seem to absolutely litter the canyon walls in this area. He’s getting hits left and right but he’s not actually SEEING them, there’s just too much cover.

 

If he’s not seeing them odds are the TMTF aren’t either…which means they could be completely surrounded by predators and not realize it until it’s too late. Yeah he wants them off his trail but not so badly that he’s willing to risk their lives just to give him a bit of a head start.

_Ugh…god he’s an idiot._

 

If he has any self-preservation instincts whatsoever he’d of just turned around and hightailed it back to the gateway, hop through and get to hiding his research. They’re not some helpless innocents who stumbled through a hole in time- they’re freaking shifty, shady, armed government agents…Government agents who are actively tracking HIM.

 

He should just get out and do whatever he can to save his skin…but…damnit…he can’t.

 

He just can’t.

 

Whatever else they were they are human beings. What if something happened to them? What if the gateway closes, trapping them on this side? Or what if while they’re searching for him they end up stumbling into the Coelophysis nesting ground or the gaggle of Ornithomimus? Yeah they may kinda look like giant chickens but they’re giant chickens about twelve feet long with sharp beaks and razor sharp dewclaws like an emu and it’s a flock of ten. He sure as hell wouldn’t want to run into them without his PEDZ. And the chickens from hell are the _least_ dangerous things lurking around the canyon. What if one of them decides to investigate the new creatures? Or decides they’re just right for their next meal?

 

What if because of him someone dies?

 

H-he can’t have that.

 

He just can’t.

 

He knows it’s stupid- verging on suicidal- but he has to make sure they have some kind of protection- that they can make it back to their time safely. Logically he knows if they jumped into a hole in time they probably have some kind of safeguard for whatever they come into contact with- he knows this damnit- but he can’t bring himself to just assume they’ll make it out safe.

 

TMTF or not they’re still people and he can’t just turn his back and hope nothing bad happens to them while he plays hide the evidence.

 

_Ugh…god he’s such an idiot._

He sighs faintly, rolling his eyes at himself, reaching up, absently petting Becks, craning his neck to see around the boulders and trees, trying to get a visual of them. When he hit the scrub and boulders it seemed a blessing, having a bit of cover to obscure their sightlines and allow him the chance to get close enough to get a feel for the TMTF before they actually saw him. He figured once he got close enough he could send Becks in to get a clear visual, some audio and a few more accurate scans, see where they were on this and just how screwed he was. He’s hoping he’ll catch up to them, see that they have some kind of protection and are good and he and Becks can just back out and hightail it home while they’re still trying to track him down.

 

Well…that’s plan A. He’s really hoping plan A pans out. Plan B is just stupid. B is to basically just wander up to them, put on his best ‘stupidly reckless college kid/victim of a prank and/or ditching’ act, maybe blabber on about his extensive list of stupidly reckless college kid proof and nerdy tendencies to play up the prank/ditching thing and hope like hell they buy it enough for them all to get back to their own time.

 

He does not have high hopes for B.

 

He’s less than a mile from them now, should be able to see or hear them soon, would be able to where it not for the scraggly trees, large boulders and scrub that cropped up around this part of the riverbed. At first he was thinking the added cover would be a blessing…at least he did till he realized that while it gave HIM cover to get closer to the TMTF without being immediately visible it did the same damn thing for any creatures in the area…and there were a lot of creatures lurking just out of sight. This area seems all but designed for an ambush.

 

Man…he’s kinda glad he took his little detour- this area is wildly unsettling. It’s like you’re both totally exposed and totally flying blind.

 

You have the open riverbed but it’s all but surrounded by boulders, scrub brush and trees which seem to cluster randomly around the edges of the canyon walls, obscuring openings, caves and breaks in the sides. His sensors don’t read through solid rock so if something’s behind one of the exceptionally large boulders or beyond one of the breaks in the canyon wall he doesn’t see it on the sensors till he’s all but upon it.  He’d thought hugging the canyon wall would give him a bit more cover, allow him to see the TMTF before they saw him but he may be rethinking that. Hugging the walls meant he was kinda flying blind so far as the off shoots and caves went. He already had a close call with a snappy little [_Geminiraptor_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geminiraptor) that he very nearly literally ran into as it darted out of one of the small caves.

 

Thankfully there was only one and they’re not that large. Plus the PEDZ calming effect seems really effective so it didn’t stay ruffled for too long and left him alone. Even so it was far closer than he likes getting to one of the inhabitants of the cretaceous without forewarning.

_Hmm…wonder if he could amplify the calming effect? It was almost more effective than the blocking the prey/human sent. I mean there were a lot of creatures that relied on sight to hunt rather than just sent…this could definitely come in handy. He could use this. It had to be a chemical reaction from some of the ingredients…if he could figure out what it is, isolate it and produce it separate he might be able to u-_

His meandering thoughts are cut off by an ear splitting roar.

 

_Oh crap! What the hell was that!?_

 

Simon startled at the sound, feeling the ground tremble. Whatever it was it was big…and pissed. It had to be close by; he could feel the ground quaking from the creatures footfalls. It was somewhere ahead of him…around the same distance from him as the agents.

 

_Oooh crap._

 

Simon sped up, rushing and winding through the scrub and around the boulders, looking for a clear line of sight, a way t-

 

He froze, heart stuttering to a stop.

 

_Oh god…_

 

There’s a huge Gorgosaurus tearing across the dry riverbed shooting right for the agents. They’re out wide in the open. They’re running, screaming across the wide open area but oh god…they’re never gonna be able to outrun the beast…oh god…he can hear them now…they’re gonna get killed…they’re gonna get killed and he’s gonna see it…hear it…oh god he sh-

 

Oh! Oh they made it into some of the scrub and trees! T-that could help. The creature might not be able to get to them there the trees are close enough th…

 

A-and it’s tearing the trees out, obliterating them, forcing its way into the cover after the agents. They’re darting between the larger more substantial trees and boulders trying to use them for cover and it’s slowing the creature down but not stopping it. It’s roaring, scrambling at the boulder they’re using for cover, huge jaws snapping and snarling.

 

“Keep going guys, cave’s straight ahead, I got this.”

 

Simon startles as Scary Eyes darts sharply away from the others, out of the cover. She turns raising some ray gun looking weapon, it sparks and flashed electric violet, a series of bright violet beams firing out, hitting the creature’s right flank, the creature’s side smoking and sizzling.

_Yes! Go Scary Eyes! That m-_

 

Oooh crap…that did not put it down…it just pissed it off. The Gorgosaurus roared, focusing now solely on her.

 

“Damnit!” She curses, darting away towards a smattering of boulders and trees, the creature roars, jaws snapping, chasing after her. The other four agents’ steps falter, looking over to Scary Eyes.

 

 _“GO!! I got it!”_ She shouts, waving them forward, darting between two boulders, finding a bit of coverage, firing again at the beast, it roaring, advancing on her, scrambling at the rocks.

 

**_“GO!”_ **

****

The others dart across the clearing, shooting into a cave along the canyon wall about forty feet away from Simon’s hiding place. At the last minute though Weird Eyes turns, doubling back, running over to where Scary Eyes is pinned down.

 

_Dude…gotta admit Weird Eyes and Scary Eyes are pretty badass. He couldn’t imagine purposefully antagonizing a near thirty foot creature._

 

Weird Eyes darts to the left of the Gorgosaurus, raising his weapon, firing several rounds into the beast’s side. It still doesn’t put it down but does draw the creature’s attention…w-which I guess is something…k-kinda.

 

Crap…

 

_Why isn’t it putting it down? They look like they should b-The feathers! Th-_

“The feathers are working as protection- it’s not getting through!”

 

Simon startles at the shout, gaze shifting from the dino antagonizing duo, catching sight of Pretty guy about thirty feet from the cave.

 

“Yeah got that, move your ass, cave now!” Weird Eyes shouted over the sizzling of Scary’s ray gun thing, lifting his own weapon again drawing its attention back.

 

“You need to hit the bare spots!” Pretty guy shouts, moving closer still. (Seriously do these people have a death wish, who moves closer to a pissed off dinosaur?)

 

“Get back to the damn cave Magnus!”

 

“Not without you guys!” Pre-er- Magnus apparently- barked, running right towards the other two and the dinosaur. (Oh my god Pretty dude’s insane…really that should be expected of someone who leaps though a hole in time in club wear and heeled boots but even so- dude was ‘get out the butterfly nets’ bat crap crazy.)

 

“What in the hell are you doing!?”

 

“Giving you guys some cover!”

 

“Magnus get the h-” he trailed off as Magnus dodged, zigzagging erratically, darting around the dinosaur, throwing five odd, brightly colored sphere like things at the beast. They hit, exploding on impact, releasing huge explosions of color and glitter…GLITTER…

 

Pretty dude is attacking a thirty foot, carnivorous dinosaur with freaking GLITTER.

 

T-they seriously need the butterfly net…going by his reaction Weird Eyes is in full agreement.

 

Magnus darted forward, slamming into Weird Eyes, turning on a dime, catching his hand, darting back towards the cave. Weird Eyes looks just as confused by the proceedings as Simon, head shaking uncomprehendingly.

 

_“Why are you decorating the dinosaur!?”_

 

_Good question Weird Eyes…_

Magnus shook his head, glancing over, Scary Eyes zooming around the thrashing Gorgosaurus, catching up to them, the trio speeding up, tearing across the open range for the cave.

 

“I’m not! The swirling colors, lights and shimmer wreak havoc with their senses, but it’ll only buy us a few minutes and when it clears it’ll b-”

 

There’s another ear splitting roar, the ground rocking. Weird Eyes steps falter, glancing back, again blinking uncomprehendably at the sight before him.

 

Simon can relate…he’s kinda right there with him.

 

_Umm…yeah…that’s just bizarre._

 

The Gorgosaurus is snapping at the dissipating colors and glitter, head thrashing about, some of the smoke and iridescent dust shooting out of its flaring nostrils reminding Simon of some bizarre Lisa Frank style dragon…which…well…now **_really_** fits.

 

The thing’s scruffy, thick, once white, brown and grey feathers are now sparkly and day glow blue, orange, violet, green and pink.

 

_Wow…it does NOT like the makeover._

 

The beast is furious, looks deranged, eyes flashing, jaws snapping, gaze again zeroing in on the trio. It lets out a roar that reverberates clear through Simon, tearing towards the three agents. Weird Eyes grabs Magnus, pushing him ahead of him and into the cave, Scary Eyes hot on their heels just ahead of the pissed off, technicolored dinosaur.

 

It roars and thrashes at the cave entrance, trying to get in, head slamming into the cave, turning, jaws gnashing and snapping trying to get to them. Simon hears a whirring sound followed by a pained screech like roar, the beast scrambling back, face sizzling and smoking. It stumbles away from the cave making its way across the open riverbed finally disappearing through one of the offshoots in the canyon walls.

 

Simon slumps against the boulder he’d been using for cover, kind of sliding down, collapsing on the ground, pulling his knees up in front of him, wrapping his arms around them, just setting for a minute trying to get his heart back to normal…franticly trying to settle his stomach and stop his brain from spinning, going through all the possible ways this could have gone.

 

God damnit…he knows it’s really useful for inventing and reading and his different little projects and all that but sometimes having such an active, clear, vivid imagination and ability to accurately visualize things REALLY sucks.

 

_Oh good lord…w-oh god…he very nearly saw people die- get eaten- ripped apart by a freaking dinosaur. Oh god…t-this is just…oh god…_

 

Becks trills softly, cuddling close, sensing his distress. He clambers up Simon’s arm, settling on his shoulder, colors shifting through warm, soft pastels, nudging lightly against his cheek, a couple of the little legs moving up, kind of trying to pet his hair. Simon gives a soft, kind of weak laugh and not quite smile, shaking his head lightly. Becks may be an obnoxious drama queen and a fashion critical little brat most of the time but he definitely had his moments. He reaches up, lightly running his hand over the little tredectipod, Becks making a light chirping sound, settling closer.

 

Simon leans back, closing his eyes, taking a couple more deep breaths, focusing on Becks and his breathing. God…he just was not prepared for this. He’d came through all set, he thought he’d been ready for near any eventuality but he really didn’t see this one coming. I mean he chose to jump into the gateway, he knew all the risks to himself, and he’d prepared for them as best he could. He’s not naïve, he knew there were dangers, threats and he came ready to face them as best he could. He was ready to face whatever came at him- I mean yeah he’s not like Scary Eyes or Weird Eyes or Magnus the Pretty Loon but he was realistically confident he could make it here and back safely. He had his PEDZ and Becks for warnings and more than a few other tricks up his sleeve but all of his plans, all of his scenarios- every last one- just factored in him and Becks.

 

He was confident HE could make it back safely…and after the dino taunting duo and the neon glitter bombs clearly the TMTF was far from helpless…but still. Right now, in this very moment in time there were a grand total of six people alive on the entire planet.

 

Six.

 

Six people came through the Gateway. H-he kinda wanted to make sure the same number made it back out. He just had him to worry about. They had five people they were trying to navigate through the cretaceous. Yeah that means they have backup but that also means there are five times more lives at stake, five times more chances of a mistake, a misstep, five times as many risks of getting caught by something. That was far too much of a risk…and shifty, shadowy government agents or not, no way in hell he can just hope it all works out for them. He just can’t.

 

Much as he’d like to stick to plan A it was seeming less and less likely. He had to actually SEE them make it back, know that they were safe. Unless he sees it with his own eyes he’s always gonna wonder if they made it okay…and the guilt if he somehow later found out any of them didn’t make it back would eat him up. He has to insure they make it back to their time. All of them.  The only way that’s happening is if they go together. He knows it’s stupid, that by doing this he’s all but kissing his last year of research into these things goodbye…but if it’s a choice between research and findings and a human life? LIVES?

_Yeah…no contest._

 

He sighs faintly, still absently petting Becks who by now has skittered off his shoulder and is perched lightly on his knees, little legs fidgeting nervously, ocular sensor scanning Simon in concern. He chuckled softly, shaking his head, shrugging.

 

“It’s okay Becks…I’m fine…just a bit rattled. I was not prepared for that. I mean I thought I knew all the dangers and possible scenarios we could face but I didn’t factor in other people. I don’t think I can just leave knowing there’s five other people risking their lives here looking for me. I just can’t…think we’re settling on Plan B.”

 

Becks flickered bright violet then to aqua, neon yellow and lime green, little legs fidgeting and waving, rattling out a series of dolphin like clicks and boops. Simon shrugged, nodding, giving a kinda flippant wave.

 

“Yeah I know it’s insane-”

 

A series of beeping boops and chatter, colors flashing, front legs waving animatedly. Simon huffed, rolling his eyes, shaking his head.

 

“Oh it’s nowhere near as insane as pretty dude with the glitter bombs! I j-”

 

More beeping and chatter.

 

“I know okay! I know it’s not ideal but I can’t just leave them to fend for themselves-”

 

An annoyed burst of static, a few beeps and clicks, colors flashing like a strobe light.

 

“Yes I know they have guns and the ray gun thing and apparently dinosaur scrambling glitter bombs but even so I can’t just assume they’ll be okay. I have to actually see that all five of them get out of the gateway safely…I just do. I know it’s an insane and crazy risk but if I don’t actually SEE them make it back I will always worry that I cost someone their life. I just will…and I could not deal with that…sorry Becks but I really have to do this.” He shifted, lifting Becks off his knee, setting him on the ground, beginning to stand.

 

“I’ll just go in a-”

 

A frantic series of beeps, flickering through the color spectrum so fast Simon could barely even register them all, poking frantically at his pant leg.

 

“Becks I have to talk to them and this is a good opening- I can be fairly truthful- bumble in, seem scared and frantic say I saw the Gorgosaurus and them and that I’m just so relieved to see some actual humans- that I thought it was a prank or something and then by the time I realized it wasn’t I was already here and thought when else would I have a chance to explore the lost world.

 

It’s the best I can do but I think it could work…maybe…”

 

Becks gave an annoyed huff and the most sarcastic look he’s ever seen on a synthetic being. Simon flails slightly.

 

“I know alright! But it’s the best I can do.”

 

Did Becks actually just groan? Yeah it’s the mimicry thing but still uncalled for. The ocular censor rolls, a few of the little leg like appendages flailing in annoyance followed by a series of unidentifiable sounds- apparently Becks now knew how to grumble.

 

Beck’s huffed again, a series of somewhat sulky beeps, boops and clicks.

 

Simon shrugged, beginning to shake his head.

 

“I-I don’t know Becks…I realize that was part of the original plan but I really don’t like the idea of you getting too close to them. It was one thing if they were somewhere out in the open where there’d be places you could hide or multiple escape routes but they’re in a cave, an enclosed space. I can’t get a read on the layout of the cave, how deep it is or if there’d be a second exit. I don’t want you trapped in there with them…If they found you? I…I really don’t know what would happen.

 

They’re looking for me, they know I’m here- they don’t know about you and that’s exactly how I want to keep it. I’ll go in, meet them, put on my best ‘super nerdy college idiot’ act and we can start making our way back to the Gateway. You can go a bit ahead of us, send back any info we may need- I’ll just play it off as a techy kinda app on my watch and you can hide somewhere nearby and wait for me on the other side.”

 

Becks froze for a moment before a cacophony of clicks, boops, trills and screechy staticy things erupted, colors shifting to brilliant red and electric orange, legs flailing wildly, gesturing towards him and the cave and back again.

 

_Wow…he’s never been cursed out by a Tredectipod before. He did not know Becks had such a colorful vocabulary._

 

Simon sighed, holding his hands up placatingly.

 

“I know it seems a bit reckless Becks b-

 

Hey!

 

Damnit Becks get back here!” He called scrambling after the little Tredectipod but it was no use, the damn thing was far quicker and more agile than him, skittering up the wall of the canyon, colors shifting to the rusty, orangey reddish brown of the rocks, slipping down into the mouth of the cave.

_Damnit!_

 

Simon hunkered down a few yards from the mouth of the cave, hitting a couple buttons on his watch, bringing up the footage from Becks ocular sensor, listening as the audio drifted into focus…

 

“-e incorrigible.”

 

“Awe! I think you’re incredible too!”

 

Weird eyes groaned, shaking his head, tugging Magnus up from the floor of the cave. Magnus settled close to him, looking up flirtily, all but batting his eyes.

 

“You know I WAS pretty heroic out there- practically a knight in shining armor. Pretty sure you’re supposed to reward me with a kiss.”

 

Weird eyes gave a surprised chuckle, quirking his eyebrow teasingly.

 

“Yeah…I’m not exactly the ‘damsel in distress’ type.”

 

“True…but it’s between you and Bindy. I try that line with her she’ll tell her girlfriend and ‘Fluffy’ the technicolored Gorgosaurus is gonna be the least of my worries.

 

Besides you’re prettier.”

 

Simon couldn’t help a surprised laugh at that, settling in, listening to the flirty banter and oddly lighthearted, relaxed atmosphere. He wasn’t sure about the group as a whole but Magnus if anything seemed pretty entertaining…bat crap crazy but interesting. The dude really did not have the fed vibe…like at all.

 

Maybe he was a bit quick to discard plan A so fast…I mean if they’re laughing, flirting and joking within a half hour of a freaking dinosaur attack they may have this pretty well in hand. Looking at the feeds none of the group seems overly thrown by any of this. They clearly have this down…no way in hell this is their first outing into one of the gateways.

 

Which means they know what they’re doing…also meaning Simon can call Becks back out of the cave and they can hightail it bac-

 

“O-okay…so about Simon and the false trail…”

 

_Uh yeah…maybe hold off on calling Becks back so quick. He needs to figure out what they know so he knows exactly how screwed he is here and if he has a chance in hell of spinning this in his favor._

 

Simon settles close to the canyon wall, crouching down, turning the sound up a bit.

 

“So we’re thinking he dodged us around the time we hit the riverbed-”

 

## {*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking this was gonna be a pretty short chapter- that I’d be able to get both sections up today…yeah that SO did not happen. I know a bit if it might be repetitive with the snippets of the conversation from the last chapter but I kinda needed it for the scene.
> 
>  
> 
> I like Simon’s nicknames for the group, kinda cheering them on, and his determination to make sure they make it back safe (Which is so completely Simon) and Becks cursing him out.
> 
>  
> 
> This is just the 1st half of the chapter- next will be from Magnus’s POV and will pick up pretty close to where ch. 8 cut off.
> 
> What do you think so far?
> 
>  

**Author's Note:**

> **_Oh my gosh this one is gonna be SO fun!!!_ **
> 
> **_Also I know I said in the notes that the other stories would only be 8 chapters but this one we’re doing the full 12- it just calls for it…_ **
> 
> **_I’m gonna go with just this one part for this chapter- think this is a good place to end chapter 1…_ **
> 
> ****
> 
> So in this Divya is gonna be a bit older, closer to Simon and the others rather than the teens
> 
>  
> 
> In most of the other verses she’s around Max’s age but in a few she’s gonna be closer to Simon and them- it just depends where I want to fit her in.)
> 
>  
> 
> I figured if Alec’s been in the military and such for so long he’d have some kind of military rank- On Primeval they had Captain Becker, so I just went with that…seemed a good fit.
> 
>  
> 
> _So what do you guys think so far?_


End file.
